Reuters: Politics: U.S. House Republican leaders seek to prevent split on 'Obamacare'

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U.S. House Republican leaders seek to prevent split on 'Obamacare' Aug 22nd 2013, 21:16 By Caren Bohan and Rachelle Younglai WASHINGTON | Thu Aug 22, 2013 5:16pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives are working to prevent their ranks from fracturing over the strategy of threatening a government shutdown to gut President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law. About a third of the Republican caucus sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Thursday, urging them to oppose any annual spending bills that include funding for the health law known as "Obamacare." "We look forward to collaborating to defund one of the largest grievances in our time and to restore patient-centered healthcare in America," said Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who rallied support for the letter signed by 80 House Republicans. The strategy could lead to a government shutdown on October 1, which is the deadline Congress faces to pass a broad spending measure to keep the government funded. Obama would need to sign any spending bill that Congress puts forth, and even many Republicans doubt he would ever sign a measure that removed funding for Obamacare. Many Republicans fear they would be blamed if the government were to shut down, leading to a backlash in the 2014 congressional elections. Republican leaders, including Boehner and Cantor, are wary of the strategy of threatening a government shutdown over Obamacare even though they share with Meadows a distaste for the health law. But Meadows and his allies see the funding bill as one of the last chances to stop Obamacare before major provisions of it are rolled out this fall and at the start of next year. Prominent Republican senators such as Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida also support the push to deny funding for the law. With the party divided, Republican leaders have been working to find alternative ways to try to weaken the health law. One idea under consideration is tying approval of an increase in the country's borrowing limit to agreement by the Obama administration to delay implementation of the law. Boehner was due to hold a conference call with Republican lawmakers later on Thursday in which Obamacare is expected to be raised. The debt limit idea could also come up in the discussion. The government is on track to reach its statutory borrowing limit around November, according to the latest analyst forecasts. If the debt limit is not raised by then, the country could face a catastrophic default on its credit obligations. As lawmakers meet with constituents this month, Obamacare is emerging as a top issue riling up crowds. In an effort to get House Republicans to deliver the same message to their constituents during the month-long August break, leaders sent members talking points that included the chamber's long list of efforts to kill Obamacare. "It is also important to remind your constituents that cracks in Obamacare are growing and getting deeper," said the memo to the Republican caucus. The memo was designed to help Republicans get through the August town hall meetings. Republican aides described the talking points as a refresher on what the House has already been doing to dismantle the healthcare law. SEARCH FOR A STRATEGY ON OBAMACARE It is not clear how many of the 233 House Republicans will be on Boehner's conference call or whether leaders will try to persuade members to use the government's debt limit to delay implementation of the healthcare reforms. For months, House Republicans have been tossing around ideas on how to use the debt ceiling deadline to extract budget concessions from Obama and his Democrats. Members agree with the rule set by Boehner that any debt limit increase must be matched by budget cuts and program reforms. They have discussed tying the debt limit to everything from reforming the tax code and revamping retirement benefits to defunding Obamacare. The Republican caucus had yet to coalesce around a specific idea. But as momentum built around using the spending bill to stop funding the healthcare law, Republican leaders started seriously considering using the debt limit as leverage to weaken Obamacare. An aide to Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, told Reuters on Wednesday that the debt limit was a good "leverage point" to try to force action on Obamacare. The White House has condemned the idea of using the annual spending bill or debt limit as a bargaining chip. "We've seen a faction of Republicans in Congress suggest that maybe America shouldn't pay its bills that have already been run up, and we should shut down government if they can't shut down Obamacare," Obama said on Thursday in a speech in Buffalo, New York, touting the administration's ideas for bringing down college costs. (Additional reporting by Jeff Mason in Buffalo; Editing by Mohammad Zargham) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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