Rep. Lankford: Defunding Obamacare is “off the table”

by Austin Petersen

The GOP has taken defunding Obamacare “off the table” says Rep. James Lankford (R-OK). The Oklahoma congressman stated that situation can be resolved if the penalties for Obamacare can be delayed for at least one year.

Republican leaders met with President Obama yesterday, in order to hash out an agreement on raising the debt ceiling. Meanwhile, the GOP is tasked with standing firm on delaying Obamacare, while sending a bill to the Senate that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will bring to the floor in order to fund the government. Harry Reid has said he “will not negotiate until the GOP opens the government.”

The shuffling back and forth over the debt ceiling and government shutdown has put both parties in a tizzy. Neither can quite get their messaging right due to dealing with multiple issues at the same time. The tension point is if congressional Republicans can maintain delaying the Affordable Care Act’s penalties for a year in whatever deal they hammer out. If they cave on that they will have lost and wasted billions. They must win this in order to salvage credibility with the American people.

Rep. Lankford goes into more detail in his interview with CNN below.

Austin Petersen is a homegrown Missourian with a lifelong passion for liberty. He grew up on a horse farm in Peculiar, Missouri and went on to attend Missouri State University, graduating with a degree in the Fine Arts. After developing a career in media in both New York City and Washington, D.C., he returned to Kansas City, MO, the city he now calls home. In 2016, Petersen appeared on the national stage as a candidate for president of the United States. He took second place in the crowded Libertarian primary behind Governor Gary Johnson and ahead of cyber security maverick John McAfee. During his campaign, Petersen earned many high-profile conservative endorsements, including Mary Matalin, Erick Erickson and Leon Wolf of RedState.com. Petersen also brings decades of professional experience in a wide variety of fields, from content production and media to business and political activism. He is the owner and chief executive of Stonegait LLC, a consulting firm specializing in photo and video services. He was also the director of production at FreedomWorks and an associate producer for Judge Andrew Napolitano’s show “Freedom Watch” on the Fox Business Network. Additionally, Petersen has a national following as a commentator and professional pundit. He is the founder of The Libertarian Republic, a powerful online news source for the public that receives an average of 1 million unique visits monthly and whose podcast, The Freedom Report, receives an average of one million monthly downloads. He is also a frequent contributor on television, appearing on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, MSNBC and on dozens of local radio shows.