Republicans set repeal and replace process in motion

Whether you like or dislike House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), you’ve got to respect the guy for being a man of his word.

Barely 24 hours after last November’s midterm elections, Boehner said he and his colleagues would seek to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Today — although Boehner probably hasn’t yet unpacked his new office — an aide to his Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced that the House will vote Jan. 12 to repeal PPACA, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Now, before any health care reform opponents get too excited and start popping open leftover champagne from New Year’s, it’s important to remember that the vote (which almost certainly will go in Republicans’ favor) largely is a symbolic one. Democrats still control the Senate, so the measure is unlikely to ever reach the White House — and President Obama would veto it even if it did.

That said, the vote is just the first step toward draining the lifeblood from the law through legal, appropriations and other maneuvers Republicans have at their disposal.

And Democrats undoubtedly will put up a fight. There’s a lot of dogs in this hunt, so check out EBN’s slideshow of Washington’s health care power brokers to see some of the known and lesser-known figures in the PPACA  battle royale.

Looks like it’s going to be an interesting year, folks. I’ll take some predictions in the comments: Will PPACA sink or swim? And if it sinks, will it be legal action or severed funding that does it in?