Senate Republicans remain divided on attempts to defund Obamacare, officially known as the Affordable Healthcare Act.
In fact, Republican efforts to defund Obamacare are likely to fail - but for investors that may not be the worst outcome, as we shall see.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, says he opposes Obamacare, but has refused to offer support for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's, R-TX, efforts to eliminate spending for the law.
With the new healthcare exchanges set to open Oct. 1, polls show Americans are still strongly opposed to the law - one reason Sens. Cruz and Rand Paul, R-KY, are making one last stand to defund Obamacare.
The GOP-controlled House of Representatives voted 230 to 189 last Friday to keep the government open through mid-December - but only if the budget strips out Obamacare funding.
But the Democrats control the Senate, and none are likely to cross party lines to vote to defund Obamacare.
So now the highly public effort by Cruz and his allies has put the rest of the Senate Republicans in a tough spot politically. Most realize that any effort to shut down the government if the Democrats do not agree to defund Obamacare would have ugly ramifications...
Will Congress Defund Obamacare? It Won't Be Easy
Polls show Americans would blame Republicans more than President Obama and the Democrats over cuts to essential services and entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.
And that could be trouble in the 2014 midterm elections.
At the same time, strongly anti-Obamacare constituencies are also closely watching which way the Republican senators vote. Not voting to defund Obamacare could result in a primary challenge from a Tea Party/Libertarian candidate next year.
But the Senate Republicans could end up with an unexpected savior - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV. It's possible Reid won't allow a floor vote on the House bill, given that he has never brought any repeal or defunding bills to a vote.
So will Congress defund Obamacare?
Despite all the noise in Washington, probably not.
And the current battle is pretty much the last chance for Republicans to delay the law or defund it.
Once Obamacare begins to subsidize insurance for millions of low-income Americans, the bill will become impossible to repeal.
Another Obamacare Scandal Erupts
The biggest story of Obamacare has been higher premiums all across the country, but now another scandal has surfaced with a recent announcement by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The "Health Insurance Reform Implementation Fund" (HIRIF) was a feature of the healthcare law that gave the IRS $1 billion in taxpayer money to enforce its 50 new tax provisions. But this week, the nation's tax agency said it cannot account for $67 million spent from a slush fund established for Obamacare implementation, according to a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
It's ironic that the IRS, notoriously unforgiving when a citizen taxpayer can't produce on demand a receipt for a particular deduction, is somehow unable to keep track of its own finances.
This follows the recent discovery that members of Congress and their staffs would be exempt from the law, while Americans would be forced onto the new exchanges. But some Republicans in Congress are demanding a one-year delay on the individual mandate for all Americans (an exemption of sorts).
The individual mandate requires all Americans to have insurance or else face a fine at tax time.
However, a delay of the individual mandate probably won't get added to the budget bill, either.
But while hope of defunding Obamacare or delaying its onerous provisions is fading fast, there is good news for investors. The healthcare law presents an opportunity to make money if they move right now.
Keith's Two Ways to Profit from Obamacare
According to Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald, Obamacare will create unheard-of riches for investors who tap into the right companies poised to profit from the surge in healthcare spending across the nation.
"Obamacare is one of the single biggest wealth creation opportunities to hit the markets in decades," said Fitz-Gerald. "That's because huge amounts of money - trillions - will be spent as Obamacare gets rolling."
"And trillions more will be reallocated," he added.
Not all companies will benefit - but a select few are primed for higher returns on a scale that was simply unimaginable before this legislation was passed. And Fitz-Gerald has identified several opportunities.
Fitz-Gerald said there are two simple moves that investors can make today in order to make 10%... 20%... even 30% when the law fully kicks in on Jan. 1, 2014.
Visit here to watch our video on the best two ways to profit from Obamacare.
About the Author
Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.