Obamacare Battle Shifts: House Pledges to Defund

Blog Articles · Sep 17, 2013 · Budget and Spending

This morning, House leaders announced they would pass a continuing resolution that funds the government but defunds Obamacare this week.

In many ways, today's announcement represents "a victory...for the GOP's conservative wing and its tea-party allies." (Wall Street Journal) However, it also represents a victory for the tens of thousands of workers who have seen their hours cut thanks to Obamacare and to the patients searching for new doctors.

It is also a reaffirmation that Americans outside of Washington can have an impact on the legislative process. According to National Review's Robert Costa, Heritage Action's nine-city defund Obamacare tour "drew huge crowds and inspired backers across the country to ask their representatives about where they stood. 'A lot of members were put in a corner,' says a House Republican insider. 'They were caught by surprise.'"

In August, Bloomberg's Josh Green predicted "the August town hall meetings could end up being the sleeper events of the political season and major factor in the fiscal and budgetary showdowns soon to come."

Conservatives cannot afford to take a victory lap, though. As Heritage Action CEO Michael A. Needham explained, the hard work is just beginning:

Now, Senate Democrats and President Obama must make a decision: shut down the government to protect a destructive, unpopular law or acknowledge Obamacare has failed and cannot be salvaged.

Unfortunately, President Obama's supporters will not come to a reasonable conclusion on their own. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Obamacare-defenders will swear the law is helping those in need and keeping things the same for everyone else.

The House will vote this week, probably on Friday. Ensure they know you support defunding Obamacare.