Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger on Wednesday had a warning for his fellow Republicans: shut down the government in an effort to defund Obamacare and they'll lose the House of Representatives in the 2014 midterm election.
"Potentially there will be a collapse of will to keep the government shut down because now soldiers are not getting paid and all this other stuff’s happening and we turn around and lose 10 to 20 seats in 2014," the sophomore Republican said at an Americans for Prosperity Illinois chapter meeting in Rochelle. "And whether we win the battle or not, we’ve lost the war because Nancy Pelosi’s now speaker of the House."
"This is not a disagreement on defunding Obamacare," he continued. "This is not a disagreement whether we like or hate the health care bill. This is a disagreement on tactics in terms of what is the best way to ensure that in the future we can repeal this law without bringing down the American economy or bringing down the Republican majority in the House."
As seen in video posted to YouTube, Kinzinger was challenged by one attendee who argued that shutting down the government was a final opportunity to bring down the president's signature achievement.
But Kinzinger said President Barack Obama would never sign such a bill, and even if soldiers aren't getting their paychecks, it would be Republicans, who control the House, who would take the fall.
"If Congress has a 13 percent approval rating, do you think we can win that one?" said Kinzinger.
