Just In: We are delighted that Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is disputing the story that attributed to her a statement that ObamaCare is “here to stay.” The Examiner has the scoop:

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., is disputing a story in her local newspaper that characterized her view on Obamacare as "here to stay" and "unlikely to be repealed."

The Spokesman-Review, of eastern Washington state, made national news and earned a prominent link on the Drudge Report with a story headlined: "McMorris Rodgers says ACA likely to stay." The article, dated April 25, further reported that the House Republican Conference chairwoman, during a meeting with the newspaper’s editorial board, "said it’s unlikely the Affordable Care Act will be repealed."

But McMorris Rodgers was not actually quoted in the story as saying either of those things — the remarks were paraphrased — and her office on Capitol Hill told the Washington Examiner on Monday that she never said anything of the sort.

“The headline is not an accurate or representative portrayal of what the congresswoman said in the interview, what her voting record reflects, or what she believes. She will continue fighting to repeal Obamacare at every opportunity moving forward and replace it with patient-centered reforms,” McMorris Rodgers spokesman Nate Hodson said. …

Particularly because the Republicans might win the Senate in this year's midterm elections and position the GOP to act on this health care agenda next year, any assertion by a party leader that the Affordable Care Act is "here to stay" could be politically significant.

This is a positive development. For McMorris Rodgers to have said what is attributed to her would have been surrendering where it is not necessary.

What opponents of ObamaCare can do is put forth real free market policy solutions that are patient-centered. To some extent the GOP did that for years, but now it is time to step up the efforts to formulate reforms. It is possible that ObamaCare opponents will be able to chip away at rationale for the law and that the American public will begin to see ObamaCare as obsolete. Let's hope that opponents of ObamaCare will be able to seize the initiative now that the public appears has been exposed to ObamaCare.