Conservative groups line up behind new bill to defund ObamaCare

Conservative advocacy groups on Friday lined up behind new legislation in the House to defund ObamaCare.

The Club For Growth, FreedomWorks, ForAmerica and the Tea Party Patriots all endorsed a bill from Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) that would tie a one-year delay in the healthcare law to funding for the government.

“Republicans, Democrats and Independents are united in opposition to this horrible piece of legislation and momentum is building to stop it,” Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said in a statement.

The endorsements could embolden conservatives who are pushing the risky legislative strategy of using the threat of a government shutdown to stop President Obama’s healthcare law from taking effect.

{mosads}Graves’s bill drew 42 Republican co-sponsors when he introduced it Thursday — a clear sign of the difficulty GOP leaders face as they try to avert a shutdown while retaining their anti-ObamaCare bona fides.

Jenny Beth Martin, the national coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots,
said she commended Graves for his “valiant effort to defund ObamaCare
through 2015.”

“The Tea Party Patriots supports this bill and
demands that House ‘leadership’ stop the gimmicks and get behind it
too,” Martin said in a statement.

Graves’s bill would fund the federal government except for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Conservatives argue that if they can pass such a bill through both the House and the Democratic-controlled Senate, Obama will “blink first” and agree to forgo his reform law in exchange for reopening the federal government.

“We can fund the government without funding ObamaCare,” said FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe in a statement.

“The health care law has undergone over 20 delays and revisions to-date, including exemptions for connected corporations, congressional staff, and the IRS. If the law isn’t ready to be implemented, the American people should not be paying for it,” Kibbe said.

House Republican leaders this week pushed a different stopgap bill that would force the Senate to vote on whether to fund the healthcare law. Only after that vote — which would almost certainly fail — would the Senate be able to vote on House-passed legislation funding the government.

Conservatives have derided the plan as a “gimmick,” and GOP leaders postponed a vote on it this week as it became clear it lacked support to pass.

The federal government would shut down on Oct. 1 if Congress does not pass a stopgap spending bill.

Conservative said GOP lawmakers need to steel themselves for the fight.

“Congressman Graves’ proposal to defund ObamaCare through 2015 is the best plan we have seen to prevent this law from taking hold,” ForAmerica Chairman Brent Bozell said in a statement.