http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/29/republicans-open-february-vote-repeal-obamacare/print/Republicans to open February with vote to repeal Obamacare
By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times - Thursday, January 29, 2015
House Republicans will kick off February with a vote to repeal Obamacare, providing new members the chance to put their opposition on the record as the party chips away at the overhaul and devises some reforms of its own.
"We will begin the month renewing our commitment to individual freedom and opportunity," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said Thursday in a memo previewing next week's votes.
The vote will also force Democrats in the minority to reassert their support for Obamacare or break with the White House.
Republicans have voted dozens of times to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act since its passage in 2010.
The latest bid for full repeal is sponsored by Rep. Bradley Byrne, Alabama Republican, and sets the table for Senate Republicans, now in the majority, to follow suit, although they're unlikely to find 60 votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster and force President Obama to veto their efforts.
Congressional Republicans had been focusing on more limited swipes at Obamacare.
The House voted to redefine full-time work under the law from 30 hours per week to 40, and it exempted veterans from the law's insurance mandate on businesses with the hope that employers will hire more ex-servicemen and women.
Republicans in both chambers also want to repeal Obamacare's tax on medical device makers. Several Democrats support that measure, too, because their states contain clusters of manufacturers that have complained about the tax.
The GOP has been unable to rally behind a comprehensive alternative to Obamacare to fulfill the second part of its repeal-and-replace strategy, although several proposals are floating around.
While Mr. Obama wields a veto until 2016, the Supreme Court is set to rule by June on a case that could invalidate many of Obamacare's subsidies, blowing a hole in the law and giving the GOP daylight to swoop in with their plans.
Mr. McCarthy's memo says the upcoming repeal bill will instruct the relevant House committees to "to develop our patient-centered health care reforms."
