"We have a real opportunity to significantly reduce Obamacare's tax burdens," Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told the New York Times. 

Other Republicans no doubt view the elimination of the taxes as a way to gradually dismantle the entire law. That's a narrative that many supporters of Obamacare fear, but it doesn't appear to bother many Democrats on the left, who, bolstered by strident opposition to the Cadillac Tax from unions, say they are merely trying to prevent employers from cutting generous benefits that help working people.

"I certainly am determined to keep doing what I've been doing, obviously, to work to strike this from the law," Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., told The Hill. "The coalition that stood up, in no time, on both sides of the bargaining table — employer and employees — are totally still all in."

In a recent Bloomberg column, Peter Orszag, former director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Obama, said that the elimination of the Cadillac Tax would represent a significant setback to the PPACA.

"A push now underway in Congress to defer or repeal the so-called Cadillac tax is the biggest legislative threat the Affordable Care Act has faced in the past five years. And, weirdly, the lawmakers to blame are Democrats," he wrote.

Although Obama's chief economist recently said that the White House would work hard to keep the Cadillac tax, it's hard to foresee the president vetoing the entire spending package over the PPACA provisions, particularly in the face of opposition from Democratic leadership. Not only are party leaders in the House and Senate in favor of repealing the tax, but so is the likely Democratic standard-bearer, Hillary Clinton. For Obama to pick a fight on the issue would be very awkward, politically, for the Democratic Party.