Sen Ted Cruz
says Republicans can repeal Obamacare in 2015, "every single word" of it. Don't look now, Mr. Cruz, but House Republicans have finally relented to reality, sort of, and have scheduled
three votes this week to actually make some fixes to the law.
GOP leaders are treating the three ObamaCare bills as "suspension" legislation, which means they will get a shorter debate and must pass with a two-thirds majority vote. That's a sign Republicans believe they have enough support from Democrats to pass the bills. […]
This week is different, however, because the bills under consideration are a far cry from the full or partial repeal legislation House leaders have called up before, and each has attracted at least some degree of bipartisan support. That gives them a chance of passing the House with bipartisan momentum.
One bill would allow a religious exemption from purchasing health insurance, one would exempt employers from having to provide insurance to veterans who have health care from the VA, and the third will clarify that volunteer firefighters don't have to be offered insurance from fire departments.
The procedure behind these bill means that Republicans are actually more or less serious about putting some fixes into the law. The law that they still all say they want to repeal, and the law for which they are completely incapable of creating a replacement. They are actually putting up three bills that have Democratic support to fix that bill that House Speaker John Boehner just said can't be fixed.
Of course, this doesn't mean that they won't still hold repeal votes. They have to have those to keep their base engaged, and to keep those ads from the Kochs on the air to help them. But when it really comes to repealing this law, they've pretty much thrown in the towel.