Senate Republicans still confused on what to do about Obamacare

To replace or not to replace. Senate Republicans really don't seem to have any better of a clue than their House colleagues about what to do on health care reform. Both House and Senate Republicans have hinted that they're all for the stuff in the Affordable Care Act that people really like. But the groups who call the shots and can make their lives really miserable will hear none of it. Nonetheless, some Senate Republicans are sticking their necks out, a little.

A GOP health aide explained the strategy on the shift: 'Come up with a plan and come up with a plan quick to deal with popular ' provisions. An interesting twist will be money spent and continued implementation. There could be a deal struck on those two issues as well.' The aide said Democrats would have a hard time turning down a Republican proposal to reinstate some of the law's most popular pieces.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN), asked by TPM if he believes his party should back the pre-existing conditions and under-26 laws, didn't endorse specifics but affirmed that his party ought to have a plan ready. 'Well, I think we need to be prepared,' he said. 'And we will be prepared.'

The shift is notable because Republicans have spent more than two years pledging nothing less than total repeal of the law. That has conscripted them into disavowing all of its elements, implicitly or explicitly, even though core pillars of the law had significant support within the GOP before Obama embraced them.

Some Democrats are skeptical, like Sen. Sherrod Brown, suspecting that Republicans are bluffing. 'They're joking, right? This is serious? The Republicans'the tea party has never been for consumer laws, never been for protecting families, never been for making Medicare work better. So it's a continued sham.'

Democrats could call their bluff, and actually force Republicans to act on this'write and bring to the floor their own legislation to preserve the popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act should the Supreme Court strike it down. Then we'd see who's really calling the shots in the Republican Party.