Newly-elected Republicans voted in favor of legislation to repeal the one-year-old health care reform last Wednesday, Jan. 19, honoring a campaign pledge many made before the general election in November.

The opposition will likely get turned down in both the Senate and by President Barack Obama, since the original reform was created by Obama’s administration.

Political professors around campus voiced in on the vote, with Robert Bradley stating the decision was poorly advertised and aimed towards a specific group of individuals.

“It’s fulfilling a campaign promise, sure, but to say it’s ‘just’ doing that is to suggest that the Republicans in Congress are doing it for no other reason than that, which is pretty untenable,” Shamira Gelbman, assistant politics professor, said.

“I think this is pretty much purely political. This was portrayed to the public that they [Republicans] were repealing everything. They are doing an action that is appealing to a base, to the people that got them elected,” Bradley said.

GOP officials have said congressional committees will propose changes to existing legislation in the coming months, including the elimination of individually-based insurance coverage purchases and curbs on medical malpractice lawsuits, according to a Jan. 19 article from the Associated Press.

Gary Klass, associate professor of politics, said the amendments will most likely appear on the Oct. 2011 federal budget, to which both parties will become deadlocked over what to pass and what to deny. He believes, though, that one party will eventually win.

“The Republicans won’t back down on what they want, the Democrats won’t back down on destroying the health care bill ... and somebody will have to give in, and I think the Republicans won’t give in. Democrats will give in on some things, but for a while it will be easy for Democrats to pass something that causes a long-range problem but benefits them in the short term,” he said.

Bradley noted that come next election, when many of the representatives are campaigning, Democrats might use this push against them, since the most recent Rasmussen report stated 82 percent of voters value the economy as their top priority.

“Democrats are likely to highlight how the Republicans did not support family values, for example, when in their repeal of Obamacare they would be removing those under 24 from their parents’ insurance coverages,” Nancy Lind, professor of politics, said.

“They would also likely focus on how the repeal of Obamacare would re-open the doughnut hole for prescription drug costs of senior citizens. Thus, they would highlight how the Republicans’ actions hurt both the young and the old,” she added.

With the 2011 State of the Union slated for Tuesday evening, Lind, Gelbman, Bradley and Klass have mixed opinions on whether or not Obama will mention either health care or the Republican vote.

“I am not sure that President Obama needs to make a statement on this issue as his stance is pretty well known. Rather than worrying for repeal of the legislation, President Obama may direct more of his attention to lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare,” Lind said.

“I’d be surprised if nothing at all is said about health care in the State of the Union address. He can’t hide from the issue simply by not mentioning it, given its prominence in recent weeks,” Gelbman said.