Free Republic

There's a movement among Capitol Hill Republicans to defund Obamacare. With the president's hugely expensive national health care scheme set to take effect Jan. 1, many of the law's opponents view this fall's battles over spending and the debt as the last chance to stop it, specifically by cutting off funds for its implementation. But Republicans will not stop Obamacare. They won't defund it. Their last chance to put an end to it was the 2012 election. They lost, and the chance is gone. On Thursday, Republican Sen. Mike Lee made public a letter pledging to "not support any continuing...

Senator Mike Lee has been collecting signatures to a letter pledging to defund Obamacare. Senator John Cornyn was an original signer of the letter. This has been confirmed by multiple outlets, including the Blaze, and confirmed by multiple Senate sources. But, after pressure from Senator McConnell’s office and others, Senator John Cornyn has yanked his name from Senator Lee’s letter. Senator Lee today publicly revealed the existing signatures on his letter. They are: Senators Rubio (R-FL), Cruz (R-TX), Risch (R-ID), Paul (R-KY), Inhofe (R-OK), Vitter (R-LA), Thune (R-SD), Chiesa (R-NJ), Enzi (R-WY), Fischer (R-NE), and Grassley (R-IA). Senator Cornyn had...

The conservative Club for Growth is pushing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to use the threat of a government shutdown to deny funds for ObamaCare. The group urged McConnell on Wednesday to back an effort led by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to filibuster any government funding bill that includes money for the healthcare law. Lee has been circulating a letter summarizing the plan. It has 15 signatures so far, according to the Club. "If Sen. McConnell is committed to defunding ObamaCare, then he should sign the Lee letter," said Club for Growth President Chris Chocola in a statement. "We...

Yesterday, when asked directly about Republicans shutting down the government over Obamacare, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell sounded less than committed to the endeavor. This is not a hypothetical question. Senator Mike Lee has issued a letter saying he will not pass a continuing resolution that funds Obamacare. He has been joined by fifteen Republican Senators. Unfortunately, I can confirm from multiple sources in the United States Senate that Senator McConnell’s office has begun pressuring Republicans to back away from the Mike Lee effort. In fact, one senate source tells me Senator Lee himself was asked to take his signature...