A few weeks ago, we noted that House GOP leadership has carefully picked which partial Obamacare bills come to the floor.  Notably, only those aspects of repeal that are fully supported by the health care lobbyists on K Street ever see the light of day for a floor vote.  The example from last month was a bailout of Cigna’s calamity with expatriate health insurance plans for American executives serving overseas.

The health care industry spent a lot of money campaigning for Obamacare, but now they don’t want to deal with the consequences of the law, at least not those aspects that affect their bottom line in the near-term.  It’s no surprise that Senator Marco Rubio’s “risk corridors” bill, which would eliminate the slush fund to bail out insurance companies from revenue losses due to the Obamacare mandates, never received a vote in the House.  It is vehemently opposed by the health industry lobbyists.

To illustrate just how strongly Republicans are controlled by K Street look no further than today’s news that Brendan Buck has accepted a position as the top spokesman for the health insurance industry.  Buck, a longtime spokesman for Speaker John Boehner, will become vice president of communications at America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).

As the Washington Post notes, AHIP is a supporter of Obamacare and a big force behind opposing the elimination of the “risk corridor” bailout.

Over the next few months, we will begin to see a number of stories about how repealing Obamacare is a thing of the past.  Just today, The Hill observes how “the GOP goes quiet on Obamacare,” as there is no more pending legislation going through committee or coming up for a floor vote.

Indeed it has become clear that the battle over defunding Obamacare last fall was not just a disagreement in strategy.  If we fail to get rid of leadership and elect more fresh conservative blood, passing amnesty will supplant repeal of Obamacare as the cause célèbre of the Republican Party.

Cross-posted from The Madison Project