Senate GOP forces all staff to use ObamaCare - dares reluctant Democrats to do the same

If you listen to the increasingly few Democrats who will still stand up for ObamaCare, you'll hear the same old talking points: It's lowering costs! It's providing quality coverage for millions! It's working! People love it, but they don't know that they love it!

What you won't hear them talk about is the fact that some of their staffers were exempted from it, and were allowed to keep their policies via the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program. As The Hill reports:

Senate Republican staffers will be required to obtain health insurance through ObamaCare's exchanges under a rule passed Wednesday by the GOP Conference. The proposal from Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) means that Senate Republicans will designate their staff as "official," moving them automatically onto the marketplaces. A loophole used in both chambers allows lawmakers to designate staff as "unofficial" or "official staff," which permits them to keep their insurance coverage under the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.

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You'll probably recall that this loophole was a conscious decision - one, obviously, made by Democrats. They were afraid that, if their precious staffers were shoved into the pricy ObamaCare exchanges, private sector employment would suddenly look much more attractive. They'd be unable to compete with "real" jobs, and politicians would have trouble finding aides who were willing to sit in the background at hearings and bring them coffee. So, Dems created a workaround that allowed staffers to stick with their much more desirable federal employee coverage. Harry Reid famously exercised this option last year, allowing some of his committee and leadership staffers to retain their federal plans. Hot on the heels of their Midterm win - thanks, in no small part, to public disdain for Democrats and the failed ACA - Republicans have passed a resolution that will close the loophole. ...At least on their side of the aisle.

"Republican senators made a strong, principled statement today in passing my resolution," Vitter said in a statement. "Washington should have to live under ObamaCare just like everybody else until we repeal it. And we won't be complicit in Obama's illegal rule designed to protect Washington insiders."

Not only that, but they're daring the Democrats to do the same. After all, if ObamaCare has "lowered costs" as they like to claim, Dems should no longer have any concern about the ACA causing an exodus to the corporate world.

The GOP Conference challenged Senate Democrats to adopt a similar policy and not allow their aides to remain on the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program. The Republican policy applies to all staff regardless of whether they work in a personal, committee or leadership office. Cloakroom and other aides are also included.

You have to love this. Democrats are going to absolutely hate reciprocating. However, if they don't, Republicans will spend the next two years reminding everyone that the ACA is so horrible that Dems have exempted their own people from its effects. That they would refuse to subject their staffers to the horrors of their own law would be a glaring admission of its many, many, failures. Beyond the political maneuver, the principle - that government workers should ALL be subject to the laws they impose upon the rest of us - is a noble one. This is a pretty shrewd move by the Senate GOP - and it's nice to see it happen.