Based upon what Robert Costa is reporting today, it would seem that the GOP's "Defund Obamacare Or We'll Shut Down The Government" caucus is all but dunzo in the eyes of party leadership. Costa talks to GOP Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and it seems that the Virginia Republican representative is fully aware of the impracticalities of such imprecations, telling him, "No one is advocating a government shutdown.”
Per Costa:
He also threw a little cold water on the “defund or shutdown” rallying cry. “In order to avoid a government shutdown, we need 60 votes in the Senate and 218 votes in the House to pass a continuing resolution,” he explained. “To get 60 votes in the Senate, you need at least 14 Democrats to join Republicans and pass a CR that defunds Obamacare. Right now, I am not aware of a single Democrat in the Senate who would join us. If and when defunding has 60 votes in the Senate, we will absolutely deliver more than 218 votes in the House.”
Of course, many of the people who have been advocating a government shutdown over Obamacare have tried to dodge the responsibility for advocating such with a rhetorical trick that they think sounds clever but doesn't really fool anyone. Here's Marco Rubio, giving it a try: "The president and his allies -- and even some Republicans -- will accuse us of threatening to shut down the government. In fact, it is President Obama who insists on shutting down the government unless it funds his failed ObamaCare experiment.”
Yeah, yeah, it's cute, but doesn't work. Still, if Eric Cantor wanted to, he could use a similarly tortured construction. That he doesn't tells you all you need to know about whether he's willing to take up this kamikaze mission.
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