Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/401392
MARKDUNCAN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks at a GOP Get Out the Vote rally in Independence, Ohio. ByRicardoAlonso- Zaldivar The Associated Press WASHINGTON While Re- publicans in Congress shout, "Repeal Obam- acare," GOP governors in many states have quietly accepted the law's major Medicaid expansion. Even if their party wins control of the Senate in the upcom- ing elections, they just don't see the law going away. Nine Republican gover- nors have expanded Med- icaid for low-income peo- ple in their states, despite their own misgivings and adamant opposition from conservative legislators. Three more governors are negotiating with the Dem- ocratic administration in Washington. Rather than demand- ing repeal, the governors generally have sought fed- eral concessions to make their decisions more polit- ically acceptable at home. That approach is in sharp contrast to the anti-Obam- acare fervor of their party in Congress. Ohio Gov. John Kasich doesn't think the Affordable Care Act will be repealed, even if Republicans win a Senate majority and con- solidate their hold on the House in next month's elec- tion. "That's not gonna hap- pen," Kasich told The Asso- ciated Press during a re- cent re-election campaign swing. "The opposition to it was really either political or ideological," the Repub- lican governor added. "I don't think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people's lives." In a state that's pivotal for national politics, Kasich casts Med- icaid expansion as a moral choice to help the poor. While "repeal" remains the mantra for many Re- publicans in Washington, it's up against some hard facts. As Kasich suggested, millions of people now have a tangible benefit that would be taken away if the health law were re- pealed. Any GOP replace- ment law would probably have to give most of those people a way to remain in- sured, and that would in- volve considerable tax- payer expense and govern- ment regulation. And even if Democrats lose their Senate majority, President Barack Obama still has the power to veto legislation. Republicans would have to muster a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress to override that. "What we would antici- pate is most likely to hap- pen, even with a Republi- can Senate, is we'd have to work within the confines of where we are," said Marty Carpenter, spokesman for Republican Gov. Gary Her- bert of Utah. Herbert wants federal approval to deliver the Medicaid expansion through private insurance companies — as some other GOP governors have done. Iowa Gov. Terry Brans- tad, another Republican seeking re-election, says "major changes" are re- quired to the health care law. But he expects his state's Medicaid expansion to stand. "I think our system and our approach is working, and I think other states are starting to look at our ap- proach," Branstad said. In a recent debate with his Democratic election op- ponent, Senate Republi- can leader Mitch McCon- nell of Kentucky said that Obama's health care law must be pulled up "root and branch." But he has- tened to add that the state could somehow still keep its insurance marketplace, which owes its existence to Obama's law. Here are some of the hur- dles that congressional Re- publicans would face, even if they won big on Nov. 4. • A straightforward re- peal bill could be filibus- tered in the Senate, giving Democrats a chance to turn the tables on Republicans who have used that tactic in recent years. • Democrats used bud- get rules to avoid a filibus- ter and pass the law in 2010. That same budget process might be used by Republi- cans to unravel the law. But they might not kill all of it, only the parts with a direct impact on the federal bud- get, leaving an unworkable jumble of insurance rules. And Obama could still veto it. • Forcing a government shutdown or a debt de- fault to try to get rid of the health law would probably backfire politically. Repub- lican leaders want to avoid that, though some conser- vative activists say nothing should be off the table. • There's no consensus among Republicans over how to replace Obamacare. Some believe a new plan would have to come from the party's 2016 presiden- tial nominee. Still, the nation can ex- pect repeal votes if Republi- cans win the Senate, to ful- fill campaign promises. GOP governors don't see 'Obamacare' going away, adapt POLITICS By Mark Sherman The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Su- preme Court agreed Mon- day to referee a dispute over police access to hotels' guest information without first getting a search war- rant. The justices said they will hear an appeal by the city of Los Angeles of a lower court ruling that struck down an ordinance that requires ho- tel operators to open their guest registries at the de- mand of police. The federal appeals court in San Francisco divided 7-4 in ruling that the ordi- nance violates the privacy rights of the hotels, but not their guests. Courts in other parts of the country have upheld similar laws. Cities argue that the or- dinances help fight pros- titution and illegal gam- bling, aid in the pursuit of fugitives and even could be a tool to track sus- pects following a terror- ist attack. Los Angeles has said the ordinance makes prostitutes and drug deal- ers less likely to use hotels if they know that the fa- cilities must collect infor- mation about guests and make them available to police on a moment's no- tice. Judge Paul Watford wrote for the appeals court that the records are a ho- tel's private property and "the hotel has the right to exclude others from prying into the contents of its re- cords." In dissent, Judge Richard Clifton said that courts pre- viously have ruled that ho- tel guests have no expecta- tion of privacy in records of their names and room num- bers. "A guest's information is even less personal to the hotel than it is to the guest," Clifton said. The case is Los Angeles v. Patel, 13-1175. In a second case from California, the justices said they will consider rein- stating the conviction and death sentence in a 29-year- old triple murder in San Di- ego. The state appealed a lower court ruling that over- turned the conviction and sentence for Hector Ayala. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Ayala was denied a fair trial because prosecutors excused all seven black and Hispanic jurors who might have served. The jury convicted Ayala of killing three people dur- ing a drug robbery at a San Diego garage in 1985. The case is Chappell v. Ayala, 13-1428. The third appeal ac- cepted Monday questions whether a convicted felon still can sell or transfer guns that he can no longer own because of his criminal conviction. Tony Henderson, a for- mer U.S. Border Patrol agent who pleaded guilty to dis- tributing marijuana, volun- tarily turned 19 guns over to federal authorities after he had been charged. Henderson wanted to sell the weapons to a friend or transfer them to his wife because federal law pro- hibits people convicted of crimes from owning guns. But lower federal courts ruled against Henderson. The case is Henderson v U.S., 13-1487. All three cases will be ar- gued during the winter. SCOTUS Su pr em e Co ur t ju st ic es wi ll d ec id e privacy case on hotel records PAIDADVERTISEMENT | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2014 4 B