Obamacare Repeal Central To Government Shutdown, But Democrats Won’t Back Down

Obamacare is the centerpiece of the federal government shutdown, but Democrats appear unwilling to bargain with Pres. Obama’s signature legislation.

The shutdown went into effect as the clock turned to October 1, with Congress failing to pass a resolution to pay its bills. At the center of the argument is whether the Democrats will accept changes to Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act.

The GOP-controlled House tried to insert language into funding bills that would delay or stop implementation of the health care reform law, but Democrats in the Senate have resisted efforts. They say they will only vote on a “clean continuing resolution,” one that does not touch Obamacare.

Republicans have in turn accused Democrats of refusing to negotiation, but Pres. Obama said there is nothing to negotiate — Obamacare is law, has been validated by the Supreme Court, and there is nothing more Republicans can do about it.

“Steve when you say what can I offer? I shouldn’t have to offer anything,” Obama said to Morning Edition‘s Steve Inskeep. “They’re not doing me a favor by paying for things that they have already approved for the government to do. That’s part of their basic function of government; that’s not doing me a favor. That’s doing what the American people sent them here to do, carrying out their responsibilities.”

Obama said he is willing to talk about things like early childhood education and rebuilding America’s infrastructure, but they won’t be able to accomplish anything “if one party to this conversation says that the only way that they come to the table is if they get 100 percent of what they want and if they don’t, they threaten to burn down the house.”

The government shutdown comes just as Obamacare exchanges have begun to open. On Tuesday, the demand to sign up was so high that exchange websites experienced technical glitches, leaving some users shut out. Obama said they are working to fix the problem so the site will run faster in the afternoon.

As the fight over the government shutdown continued on Tuesday, Pres. Obama stood firm behind Obamacare, saying the law “is here to stay.”