Rep. King: Defunding Obamacare the Price for Keeping the Government Going

I like his style:

Rep. Steve King is lobbying his colleagues to take their fight against President Obama’s health care law to a new level: He wants to cut off funding for the law as a condition for keeping other government funds in place.

“We have a leverage point, and it is the funding for the government for the balance of the fiscal year 2011,” King, R-Iowa, told us today on ABC’s “Top Line.” “This is the place to pitch the fight.”

If such a stance brings about a partial government shutdown, it would be Democrats’ fault, King said: “If we shut off the funding to implement Obamacare and the Senate or the president refuses to go along with it, that is their decision, not ours.”

Still, King argued, a shutdown might not be a bad result.

“If essential services keep going, no, it wouldn't be. And I think that we'd be able to keep essential services going on. You know, the wedge issue is this: Is the president -- would he think that his signature issue is more important to him than all the functions of government? That's the question. And in the end, will American people stand with us, or will they stand with Obamacare?”

I like the idea but I fully expect Obama to hand onto Obamacare with everything he's got. For one thing, he knows he has a press that will blame the GOP for any government shutdown regardless of who causes it. And with an election season coming up he still thinks national health care is a winning issue.