House Speaker John Boehner's complicated scheme to pass a budget that defunds Obamacare without really defunding Obamacare has hit a major snag: the
far right isn't buying it. They want the real confrontation: defund Obamacare or shut down government. Boehner had hoped to vote on the measure Thursday, but has been
forced to postpone the vote by the opposition in his own party. Once again, he just doesn't have the votes for it.
The complicated plan landed with a thud among many tea party conservatives seeking to use the must-pass funding bill to spark a last-ditch battle with Democrats and Obama on the health care law. Health insurance exchanges are slated to begin functioning on Oct. 1.
"We've got a large number of folks in our conference who have said they need the vote to happen this way," Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Ga. "The leadership tried to craft a solution that meets those needs. We may be finding out that we didn't come as close to meeting those needs as folks would have liked."
"I'm not impressed," said Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas.
According to Jonathon Strong at the conservative
NRO, Boehner's whip count gives him 200 yes votes, 18 shy of what he needs. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) isn't helping the beleaguered Boehner at all, Strong says, with an email blast from his group that "practically shut down congressional phone line yesterday." That pressure won't let up, with the Club for Growth, Heritage Action and other groups lining up in vocal opposition to Boehner's plan. None are buying Majority Leader Eric Cantor's consolation prize—demanding an
Obamacare delay in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling.
Boehner doesn't want a government shutdown on his head, no more than he wants responsibility for the inevitable financial crisis resulting from not raising the debt ceiling. If he can't rein in the teabaggers in his caucus, he's going to have to abandon them, and come up with a budget that he can get Democratic support for. That's just about the only option left to him, unless he decides to follow in Newt Gingrich's footsteps.