Why, oh, why, the professionally naive moan. Why, oh, why do those senators all stick with this president*? Does he have embarrassing videotapes of them? Are they all sitting on huge piles of rubles back home? Do they all have herring on their breath? Why, oh, why?

Maybe it's because, for all the crimes and incompetence, the president* is still getting them pretty much what they want.

There is no question that the Affordable Care Act remains Target A for every Republican in the national government, from Camp Runamuck on down. So, using the device of the Congressional Review Act, the Democratic Senate minority is forcing votes from the Republicans that demonstrate exactly why the Republican majority is still lined up behind El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago. For example, from the Courthouse News Service:

Last year, the Trump administration eased the process of approval for Section 1332 waivers, significantly broadening the types of insurance plans the waivers could apply to. While originally meant to drive down the cost of individual market policies through the ACA, also known as Obamacare, critics say the waivers could allow states to offer ACA subsidies for subpar plans that don’t cover people with pre-existing conditions, one of the law’s requirements.

Senate Democrats forced a vote to try to repeal the rule Wednesday through a Congressional Review Act resolution. Through this process, before a rule can take effect, the Senate and House can hold a vote to overturn it. However, it could only be blocked after passing both chambers and being signed by President Donald Trump, which was highly unlikely. he measure failed in a 43-52 vote along party lines. While it was not expected to pass the GOP-controlled Senate, the move put pressure on Republicans to vote on a health care issue ahead of a presidential election year.

The Republican healthcare plan continues to be a mix of junk insurance and poison-pill waivers aimed at hollowing out the ACA until it's rendered meaningless. They never will give up on the pursuit of the law's destruction. It's a long, long game.

Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page here.

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io