House Republicans, who promised to “”hit the ground running”” last  Novemember, have managed to accomplish absolutely nothing of significance since being sworn in.

Atop their do-nothing legislative agenda is a bill aimed at dismantling 2009’s historic healthcare reform package, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka H.R. 3200.

Republicans intend to replace this law with a bill they have cleverly titled the “”Job-Crushing Healthcare Repeal Act”” (hats off to the idiot who came up with that one).

While the legislation has won widespread support in the House of Representatives, the Democratic-lead Senate has vowed to reject it. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who determines the chamber’s agenda, has refused to bring the bill up for a vote.

But in the unlikely event the bill is brought to the Senate floor, Republicans will still fall short of the 60 votes needed to defeat a Democratic filibuster.

Presidential approval is another obstacle it is unlikely to surmount. President Barack Obama has threatened to veto any healthcare repeal legislation brought to his desk.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is one of the many who have come to the realization that this foolish “”repeal and replace”” effort is nothing more than an attempt to butter-up Tea Party voters.

In a recent interview with Alaska’s KTVA, Murkowski suggested that rather than try to woo the “”American public,”” the GOP should focus its attention on more pressing issues, like the country’s exploding federal deficit and chronically high unemployment, just to name a few.

If Republicans believe the American people overwhelmingly support this fruitless attempt to repeal health care reform, they should take a look at the latest Rasmussen poll.

While a majority of Americans are still in favor of repeal (55 percent), support for this has fallen to its lowest level since October.

And out of the 1,000 likely voters surveyed, only 34 percent believe H.R. 3200 will force them to change their health insurance coverage, which is down from 45 percent earlier this month, a clear indication that the Republican smear campaign initiated in 2009 has lost steam.

Ridiculous fears of “”bureaucratic death panels”” and “”granny euthanasia”” will subside by the time the legislation is in full force.

Blatant healthcare lies propagated in an attempt to sour public sentiment are beginning to sound increasingly far-fetched now that H.R. 3200 has been enacted and people can see how the legislation actually affects them.

The provision in H.R. 3200 that allows children up to 26 years of age to remain on their parents’ health insurance plan as well as the legislation’s “”Patients’ Bill of Rights,”” which bars health insurers from rescinding insurance coverage or denying it on the basis of pre-existing conditions, have both gained support from Republican and Democratic voters alike. Any attempt to repeal these reforms will prove highly unpopular.

But if steadily declining public support isn’t enough to dissuade Republicans from continuing their repeal effort, perhaps the Congressional Budget Office’s latest estimates will.

According to the CBO, a full-scale repeal of “”Obamacare”” will add $230 billion to the national debt, doing nothing to help Republicans follow through on their pledge to reduce the deficit and reign in federal spending.

While H.R. 3200 is far from perfect, a full-scale repeal will do the country no good. This legislation should be gradually reformed and built upon, not dismantled.

Republicans may succeed in destroying Social Security and Medicare, but “”Obamacare”” is here to stay. Their pathetic attempt to “”repeal and replace”” this legislation will fail.

— Nyles Kendall is a political science junior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.