Boehner, McConnell promise repeal of ACA, Obama would veto

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The new Republican majority has not yet been seated, but the party is already making its priorities for the next Congress clear, putting repeal of President Obama's signature healthcare law at the top of its to-do list.

Presumed Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal Thursday, laying those intentions bare.

"Looking ahead to the next Congress, we will honor the voters' trust by focusing, first, on jobs and the economy," they wrote. "Among other things, that means a renewed effort to debate and vote on the many bills that passed the Republican-led House in recent years with bipartisan support, but were never even brought to a vote by the Democratic Senate majority."

Presumably referring to the 46 votes taken in the House to repeal, defund or dismantle the ACA, Boehner and McConnell continued: "It also means renewing our commitment to repeal ObamaCare, which is hurting the job market along with Americans' health care."

Although they tout this and other plans as "an obvious and potentially bipartisan starting point for the new Congress -- and for President Obama," the president has ruled out any effort to undermine the law, even as he opened the door to making changes.

Speaking on Wednesday, Obama extended a mostly cordial hand to the newly empowered GOP leadership, saying he would look forward to finding points of compromise with the unified Republican Congress.

He even suggested there was room for debate on the law's specifics, recognizing that "there's no law that's ever been passed that is perfect."

"Given the contentious nature in which it was passed in the first place, there are places where... we think we can do even better," Obama said. "If, in fact, one of the items on Mitch McConnell's agenda and John Boehner's agenda is to make responsible changes to the Affordable Care Act to make it work better, I'm going to be very open and receptive to hearing those ideas."

But McConnell was one of the few GOP candidates to loudly, and frequently promise to pull Obamacare out "root and branch," even as he told Kentuckians they would be able to keep the state's popular Kynect exchange.

And Obama has made it clear he will veto any repeal or significant efforts to undermine the law's components.

"There are certainly some lines I'm going to draw," he said. "Repeal of the law I won't sign. Efforts that would take away health care from the 10 million people who now have it and the millions more who are eligible to get it we're not going to support."

Even with their significant electoral victories Tuesday night, Republicans still don't have nearly the 67 senators and 290 representatives that would make up a two-thirds majority required to override a presidential veto.

In other words: Obamacare isn't going anywhere.