Obamacare: Can Conservatives Win the Battle to Defund It?

This story was reported and written by Local Editor Kristi Reed.

A group of conservative Republicans are on a crusade to prevent the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, from being funded in October.

The plan is to separate Obamacare funding from a temporary spending bill that must be passed in order to keep the government running. Those hoping to defund President Obama's signature legislation hope they can vote against the Obamacare bill and vote in favor of the stripped-down spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.

Not every GOP official is on board with the plan though.

MSNBC reports Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a fierce critic of the healthcare law, has criticized the defunding effort. 

“I want to defund this bill, but I also want a way to do it that kills it,” Coburn said according to the MSN article, citing a report that found the bill's funding was automatic and that defunding the Congressional portion would not prevent the law from being implemented.

Those in favor of the effort are vowing to press ahead in what some have described as a losing battle.

According to Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) could still win in the court of public opinion by getting "to champion a plan that looks attractive to many conservatives in theory but could be politically disastrous in practice."

The current funding resolution expires on Sept. 30 meaning a new one must be passed by Oct. 1 to keep the government operating. If enough Republicans vote against a funding resolution including Obamacare, they risk public ire by forcing a shutdown. If the effort to separate Obamacare funding from the resolution fails, then those leading the movement can still claim they did what they could to stop it.

Do conservatives have a realistic chance of defunding Obamacare? Do you believe your elected representatives should be focusing their efforts elsewhere? Do you support the effort to defund Obamacare? Let us know in the comments.

Read more about the Defund Obamacare movement here.