Oct. 1, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement urging the House of Representatives to pass another continuing resolution that funds the government except for Obamacare and to take its previous offers off the table:
“The House has passed three continuing resolutions now, each subsequent one weaker than its predecessor. The final one that passed, that House Speaker John Boehner has attempted to send to conference, actually represents a complete collapse of the Republican defund Obamacare position. The final proposal merely delays the individual mandate for a year and rolls back congressional benefits. All the subsidies under the exchanges and the Medicaid expansion will still go into effect. That is unacceptable.
“The only upside right now is Harry Reid has granted Boehner a reprieve by refusing to go to conference. The House should reset this discussion by returning to the easily understood, original position of defunding the law in full. Right now, the House is negotiating against itself. If that continues, all Reid needs to do is wait, and the House will eventually deliver a so-called ‘clean’ continuing resolution, and even that might not be enough for Reid, who now smells blood in the water.
“The House needs to negotiate from a position of strength. Boehner will be unable to do that if his opening bid in conference is to fund Obamacare. The sad fact is that Harry Reid doesn’t care that the government is shut down. And he will only be brought to the table when he starts feeling political pain. Hopefully, John Boehner has finally learned his lesson.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703)383-0880 or at media@algnews.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Nathan Mehrens.
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