On Friday, Ted Cruz exposed Mitch McConnell's deceit and hypocrisy on the Export-Import Bank.  Now it's Mike Lee's turn.  Next week, Senator Lee is pushing a legislative maneuver that will reveal something very important about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Lee wants to amend the highway funding bill with an amendment to shut down Obamacare.  Normally amendments to a funding bill like this would require only 51 votes, but since Lee's amendment is not germane, or directly relevant to the highway bill, it requires 60 votes to pass.  But this requirement is not to be found in the Constitution; it's a Senate rule that is easily changeable.  Changing this rule to require only 51 votes is called "the nuclear option."

So here's where the theater comes in.  We know by now that Mitch McConnell and John Boehner are Obama's men, lock, stock, and barrel.  They are permitted to pass all the symbolic legislation they like, but when it comes to budgetary appropriations, they will not permit any amendments that Obama will object to, which is why Obama has had to veto only four pieces of legislation in six and a half years.

So Mitch McConnell is perfectly happy to permit a vote on ending Obamacare under the normal rules, knowing it won't get 60 votes to pass, and then he can send the heavily porked up highway bill to Obama to sign.  But when it comes to changing the rules so that only 51 votes are needed, this is where Mitch and his Chamber of Commerce clone senators will vote no.  They'll have to, because if the rules are changed, there are easily enough Republicans to reach the 51-vote threshold.  McConnell will go before the cameras and gobble-gobble in an animated fashion about he hates Obamacare but feels he can't change the Senate rules, even though Harry Reid did it to get federal judges confirmed.

The media will report it as a process story, but you and I will know that this is just another effort of Mitch McConnell, working behind the scenes, to protect Obama and his agenda.  I feel fairly certain I know how Mike Lee and Ted Cruz will vote on the rule change; it will be interesting to see how Marco Rubio and Rand Paul vote.

This article was produced by NewsMachete.com, the conservative news site.