I have on my Facebook members of the military. If the government shuts down, they stop getting checks. The military spouses, who have already suffered enough, get no money. Soldiers in combat get no money.
Obamacare is hugely unpopular, but so too is shutting down the government. We need to face the fact that the Democrats got this idiotic monstrosity passed, and that we are going to have to deal with it. There are too many ways around it. Much of the spending is already in the Executive Branch. There is nothing we can do to stop it that does not hurt the Republicans in 2014, and as I said probably nothing we can do, period.
It is a horrible bill. I wrote a 38 page treatise on it. But right now our task is simply step out of the way, let this thing blow through town, cause a lot of unnecessary suffering, and make sure not just that the Democrats get the blame, but that the point is generalized that government intrusion is out of control. That is how we set the stage for Rand Paul in 2016.
There is a time and a place to take a hard stand. There are also times and places to be as soft as water.
Be smart, Republicans. You have little practice in it, but you have to start somewhere.