Turtling Up On Obamacare

Mitch McConnell is in an ugly spot.  On the right is fire-breathing Tea Party businessman Matt Bevin, who's apparently running for Mitch's Senate seat on a platform of "Well I would have shut down the government by now."  On the left, Alison Lundergan Grimes is waxing the turtle and happily taking over as the pragmatic, dynamic young centrist.

And Mitch?  Well, this turtle is stuck in the middle of the highway.

A government shutdown would not prevent the Affordable Care Act from being funded, Kentucky's senior senator said Tuesday.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has refused to publicly take a side as some members of his party lobby for shutting down the federal government.

"The problem is the bill that would shut down the government wouldn't shut down Obamacare," McConnell said. "Most of it is permanent law and not affected by that. It also wouldn't stop the taxes. Taxes that are going in on medical devices, taxes that are going in on health insurance premiums."

McConnell, who is also the GOP leader in the Senate, spoke to a group of healthcare workers Tuesday at Baptist Health Corbin, a hospital in southern Kentucky.

During the meeting, McConnell told audience members, "I'm for stopping Obamacare, but shutting down the government will not stop Obamacare."

Oh, but it gets worse for Mitch.

But McConnell admitted there are parts of the ACA he supports.

"There are a handful of things in the 2,700-page bill that probably are okay," McConnell said. "But that doesn't warrant a 2,700-page takeover of all American healthcare."

I'm betting Team Bevin will have a field day with that one.  Again, the school of thought is that Tea Party pressure from Bevin will make a shutdown significantly more likely, as Bevin's main criticism is that in the end, McConnell always folds to the hated Kenyan anti-colonial baby-eating Obama.

Mitch didn't do himself any favors against Bevin Tuesday. Bevin's reaction:  Mitch doesn't have the balls to defund Obamacare.



Bevin's right.

Or is he?