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Rubio Rhetoric Draws Fire

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Along with two other Tea Party favorites, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio declared on Tuesday that Congress needs to kill Obamacare by taking away all funds to implement it, even if it means a government shutdown as of Sept. 30. The vote comes up shortly after Congress’ five-week recess that begins Friday and lasts through Labor Day.

But his stance is not playing well with some senior members of the Republican Party, one of whom called the threat “dumb” and another “silly,” the Tampa Bay Times reports. They recall that the public was not pleased with the last such showdown.

Politico reports that House Speaker John Boehner will tell those who favor shutting down the government that he has a different strategy, one that won’t place the House Republican majority at risk in the 2014 elections.

In other news about Rubio and the Affordable Care Act, PolitiFact has tagged the senator with its worst rating -- Pants on Fire -- for vastly overstating the effect of the law on employment, even after the bad statistic was pointed out.
 

Originally founded in December 2006 as an independent grassroots publication dedicated to coverage of health issues in Florida, Health News Florida was acquired by WUSF Public Media in September 2012.