Politics

McConnell: Shutting down the government will not stop Obamacare

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
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Shutting down the government would not block Obamacare from taking effect, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday.

The comments, first reported by WYMT, don’t offer any help to Republican Sens. Marco Rubio, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, who have been pushing for their colleagues to vote against any continuing resolution that does not defund the healthcare law. They argue it is the last chance to get rid of the much derided law. If Congress does not pass a continuing resolution to fund the government past the end of September, the government will shutdown.

In his first public comments on the issue, McConnell hinted at disagreement with the approach.

“I’m for stopping Obamacare, but shutting down the government will not stop Obamacare,” McConnell said at a meeting with healthcare workers Tuesday.

“The problem is the bill that would shut down the government wouldn’t shut down Obamacare,” he said. “Most of it is permanent law and not affected by that. It also wouldn’t stop the taxes. Taxes that are going in on medical devices, taxes that are going in on health insurance premiums.”

While not lending the Rubio-Lee-Cruz approach any support, McConnell insisted he still wanted to get rid of Obamacare, calling it the “single worst piece of legislation passed in the last 50 years in the country.”

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