Sen. Jim DeMint is leading the charge among Senate Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Led by Senator Jim DeMint, a patron of sorts to archconservative "Tea Party" activists in the US Congress, 34 Republicans backed the legislation in keeping with a campaign vow to dismantle the overhaul Obama signed last year.
"Republicans are standing with the American people who are demanding we repeal this government takeover of health care," said DeMint who called repeal "vital to the future of our nation and the health of our people."
As polls have shown over the last few weeks, the demands of the American people really haven't coalesced around repeal. Aside from not-so-unified public support, DeMint and friends have a challenge ahead of them in a Senate where Harry Reid has vowed to not bring the bill to the floor, though parliamentary rules can force the issue and Republicans could succeed in bringing it. What they are highly unlikely to succeed in is getting any of the required Dem support they'd need to actually prevail. They'd need four Dem Senators.
One of those likely four, Ben Nelson, has called the GOP repeal effort a "gimmick,", and yesterday criticized the GOP for having offered no alternatives to the existing law.
"I would hope that the other side... would have an alternative for anything that they seek to replace that's helpful," Nelson said. "If they want to get rid of the mandate, how do they deal with the question of adverse selection, which drives up the rates."
Nelson, like most Democrats, acknowledged that parts of the bill should be changed and improved. But he's also the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, facing a potentially tough reelection bid in 2012, so his critique of the GOP's strategy suggests Dems won't be divided in this fight.
"It's very easy to be against everything -- as a matter of fact, maybe around here right now it's better to be against everything than it is to be for anything," Nelson said. "On the other hand that's not the way the system can work well for the people in the country."
DeMint is unlikely to prevail in his repeal goal, but he'll probably be achieve once again what the Republicans have proven most adept at: allowing nothing else to get done in the Senate.
Update: The bill is in, but not every Republican is on board.
Backing him are 34 Republicans including Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, and Republican Whip Sen. John Kyl of Arizona.
Conspicuously absent from the list of cosponsors are Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Susan Collins of Maine, Michael Enzi of Wyoming, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, John Hoeven of North Dakota, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Richard Lugar of Indiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Olympia Snowe of Maine.