ObamaCare repeal

In what will be a purely political maneuver, House Republicans next Wednesday plan to hold a vote on repealing ObamaCare.

The measure should pass easily – and even gain the support of several Democrats, many of whom distanced themselves from the legislation during the 2010 elections.

But Democrats still run the show in the Senate, and Barack Obama remains in the Oval Office. The bill will hit a brick wall once it leaves the House.

Symbolic exercises, however, often have great significance. ObamaCare represents the largest expansion of federal power in the past half-century. It is a job-killer for businesses, small and large, and will nourish the massive growth of an already smothering federal health care bureaucracy.

Supporters of the legislation rammed it through Congress by a single vote in the upper house — and then admitted they had no idea what was even in its 2,000 pages or what its long-term ramifications might be.

Many Republicans ran last year on a platform that included the repeal of ObamaCare. The voters rewarded them. Next week’s move will signal that the GOP is serious about listening to taxpayers and reforming how Washington operates.

Make no mistake: ObamaCare is the first step toward the elimination of private health insurance markets and the implementation of a single-payer system that leads to long waits, shortages of care and massive, unsustainable outlays.

By keeping this controversial issue alive and forcing Democrats to again defend the most radical health care overhaul in our history, the GOP improves its chances of sustaining in 2012 the voter revolt that swept the country in 2010.

And with it, picking up the majorities necessary to ensure the nation can reverse course — before it’s too late.