Utah's Lee proposes shutdown over Obamacare
August 14, 2013
By Sarah Rosier
Washington, District of Columbia: Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has long been a proponent of defunding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. However, he has now taken it a step forward by authoring a letter signed by 13 fellow senators calling for a government shutdown over the funding of Obamacare. A spending bill must be approved in September to prevent an October 1 shutdown. The signers of the Lee letter insist that, unless all money going to the ACA is blocked, they will attempt to force the shutdown.[1]
Not all Republicans are on board with this attempt, including many tea party colleagues of Lee's. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) stated that it would be "next to impossible" to accomplish the defunding. Republican strategist Karl Rove has weighed in comparing this attempt to the shutdown in 1995. He stated, "This is the one strategy, the one tactic that might be able to guarantee that the Democrats pick up seats in the Congress in 2014."[2][3]
See also
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Footnotes
- ↑ NPR, "GOP Debate: Is Obamacare Fight Worth A Government Shutdown?" August 14, 2013
- ↑ Real Clear Politics, "Fireworks: Karl Rove vs. Sen. Mike Lee On Government Shutdown Over Obamacare," accessed August 12, 2013
- ↑ Yahoo News, "Republicans offer a reality check on effort to defund Obamacare," accessed August 14, 2013
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