At least SOME Republicans are aware that people are tired of gridlock and fighting

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G.O.P. Governors Warn Party Members in Congress Not to Shut Government
By Jonathan Martin, August 4, 2013

Worried about the potential impact on the fragile economies in their states, Republican governors this weekend warned their counterparts in Congress not to shut down the federal government as part of an effort to block financing for President Obama’s health care law.

A range of Republican governors, including some who have refused to implement elements of the health initiative in their states, said in interviews that a standoff in Washington before the new fiscal year this fall could backfire on the party if it is seen as being responsible for bringing the government to a halt.

“I have made the case that Obamacare is not good for the economy, but I have some real concerns about potentially doing something that would have a negative impact on the economy just for the short term — I think there are other ways to pursue this,” said Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who hosted about half of the country’s governors here for the summer meeting of the National Governors Association.

Gov. Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota said a government shutdown would invariably be blamed on the legislative branch.

“I’ve never felt that shutting down government function is a wise thing to do politically because I think, whoever is involved in it, it’s the Congress, regardless of what party they’re affiliated with, that will be blamed by the public,” Mr. Dalrymple said. “And so, to me, I don’t see what it accomplishes.”

Asked if Republicans would pay a political price for a shutdown, Mr. Dalrymple said, “Yeah, well, you do.”

Gov. Phil Bryant of Mississippi, who refused the law’s provision expanding Medicaid in his state, was even more pointed, capturing the tension between the Republican chief executives charged with running their states and the Republican members of Congress who have no such burden.

“Many of the members of this party do not want to fund Obamacare, but what we have to do as governors who work with our legislators is realize the reality of being able to get something passed,” Mr. Bryant said.

He added that if a measure refusing to finance the health law is not going to get passed, “How much blood are we going to leave on the floor over this?”

The Republican divide on just how far they should go to torpedo Mr. Obama’s signature domestic achievement is increasingly becoming a stand-in for the broader party dispute between purists and pragmatists.

A group of Tea Party-aligned senators — like the potential presidential prospects Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas — are pushing their fellow Republicans in Congress to oppose a stopgap measure that would keep the federal government running after Sept. 30 if it includes financing for the Affordable Care Act.

But many Republicans, including high-profile conservatives like Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, fear that Mr. Obama and the Democrats will only benefit in the 2014 elections from a doomed effort to block spending on the new law because Congressional Republicans would bear the blame for the subsequent shutdown of the government.

Because of the very nature of their jobs, Republican governors mainly fall into the pragmatist camp on this issue.

The prospect of even a temporary halt to the federal government, they say, would frighten their state’s businesses and disrupt some core services.

“It would affect all 50 of us,” Mr. Walker said. “The worst part is the uncertainty. My great fear would be anything that provides great uncertainty for the employers of our country.”

Mr. Bryant’s advice to Congressional Republicans: “Take the battle to the floor, debate it, do all that you can to get that bill passed because we believe in eliminating Obamacare completely, that’s why we didn’t expand it. But at some point perhaps we have to realize that the federal government — because of the support of our military, support of our public safety, our infrastructure — we have to have a budget.”

The possibility of a government shutdown and fears of the uncertainty it may bring was raised by a pair of governors — Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, a Democrat, and Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, a Republican — during one of the public sessions during the weekend.

But the topic was brought up more in informal conversations among the governors rather than in the regular, more scripted forums, one governor said.

As the governors tend to do when they come together for such gatherings, many of those here for a four-day mix of policy talk, batting practice at Miller Park and Harley-Davidson rides were quick to contrast their jobs with those in Congress.

Gov. Terry E. Branstad of Iowa, a Republican who also served four terms as governor in the 1980s and 1990s, pointed to the compromise he reached with his legislature on how to broaden health care coverage for low-income residents without simply accepting the Medicaid expansion that is part of the federal health law. Such efforts on the state level, he said, are what is needed — not more bitter fights in Washington.

“It just causes too much disruption, and people don’t understand,” Mr. Branstad said about using the threat of a government shutdown as leverage. “People want problems solved. They’re tired of the gridlock. They’re tired of the fighting.”

Ms. Fallin, who was in Congress before becoming governor and is the new chairwoman of the National Governors Association, said she was deeply concerned about federal spending.

But she said she would like to see Washington find ways to go about addressing that issue without shutting down the government.

“They need to buckle down, work hard, find consensus on things and certainly find ways of reducing our deficit,” said Ms. Fallin, who rejected the Medicaid expansion in Oklahoma and declined to set up a state health insurance marketplace.

At least one Republican governor here, though, voiced support for the effort to tie spending on the health care law to the broader measure that finances the federal government: Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, the head of the Republican Governors Association and a potential 2016 presidential candidate who most likely does not want to cede any space to his right.

“We absolutely should use whatever opportunity and tactic we can to repeal and replace Obamacare,” said Mr. Jindal, deeming the prospect of a shutdown nothing more than “a false threat” and “scare tactics” from Mr. Obama’s administration.

To the Democratic governors here, the prospect of a shutdown is frightening from a governing perspective.

But politically, they already seem to have their message down should the federal government close this fall.

“People are getting very tired of politicians who appear to only want to shut things down and not build things up,” said Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware, a Democrat, who with a wry grin added of Republicans: “Far be it from me to give them advice, but it can’t be helpful to them.”
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