GOP Governors Against Holding Obamacare Hostage

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

From the New York Times: 

Worried about the potential impact on the fragile economies in their states, Republican governors this weekend warned their counterparts in Congress not to shut down the federal government as part of an effort to block financing for President Obama’s health care law. 

A range of Republican governors, including some who have refused to implement elements of the health initiative in their states, said in interviews that a standoff in Washington before the new fiscal year this fall could backfire on the party if it is seen as being responsible for bringing the government to a halt. 

“I have made the case that Obamacare is not good for the economy, but I have some real concerns about potentially doing something that would have a negative impact on the economy just for the short term — I think there are other ways to pursue this,” said Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who hosted about half of the country’s governors here for the summer meeting of the National Governors Association.        

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 The Republican divide on just how far they should go to torpedo Mr. Obama’s signature domestic achievement is increasingly becoming a stand-in for the broader party dispute between purists and pragmatists. 

A group of Tea Party-aligned senators — like the potential presidential prospects Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas — are pushing their fellow Republicans in Congress to oppose a stopgap measure that would keep the federal government running after Sept. 30 if it includes financing for the Affordable Care Act. 

But many Republicans, including high-profile conservatives like Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, fear that Mr. Obama and the Democrats will only benefit in the 2014 elections from a doomed effort to block spending on the new law because Congressional Republicans would bear the blame for the subsequent shutdown of the government.