Following up on the House vote to repeal last year's health care bill, Senator Jim DeMint  (R) introduced legislation to repeal "Obamacare" last Wednesday. The measure faces steep odds as Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid still controls the chamber and any such bill is expected to face a Democratic filibuster. "Republicans are standing with the American people who are demanding we repeal this government takeover of health care," said DeMint in a written statement.

In other news on the health care legislation, just one day after their vote to repeal President Barack Obama's landmark health care law, House Republicans moved Thursday to reopen debate, beginning with the volatile topic of abortion.  That issue nearly defeated passage of the health care law last year, when a small group of  Democratic abortion opponents only agreed to the bill after changes were made regarding abortion. House Republicans are losing no time in working on a strategy to attack in the health care law piece-by-piece. 

Other plans being discussed include Representative Paul Ryan's  (R) Road Map for health care, which includes revamping Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to save money.  The government's own actuary for Medicare has stated that Ryan's plan to reform entitlements would drive down health-care costs better than the existing health care bill. The thinking behind this is that a voucher system, as Ryan proposes, would reduce the amount of government money available for health care over time, causing consumers to shop around and creating an incentive in the health-care sector to compete for those dollars. Anything that can get consumers to shop for better care and prices will help control costs. 

"Fathom the odd hypocrisy that the government wants every citizen to prove that  they are insured, but people don't have to prove they are citizens." - Ben Stein