US House approves govt funding bill but defunds Obamacare

The US House of Representatives that has Republican majority today passed a stop-gap budget measure that would keep the government operating for a few months but defund President Barack Obama's health care law.

Lawmakers voted 230-189, largely along party lines, in support of the legislation that will keep the government operating till December 15. The legislation has now set up a showdown between the US House of Representatives and the Senate, which could result in the Government shut down on October 1. This is because, the Senate, in which the Democratic party has a majority, will not approve the text of the bill related to 'Obamacare', a term coined by Obama's critics to describe the health care law.. "It's time for us to say no. It's time to stop this before it causes any more damage to American families and American businesses," the House of Representatives Speaker, John Boehner, said.

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"Our message to the US Senate is very simple: The American people don't want the government shut down, and they don't want Obamacare. The House has listened to the American people. Now it's time for the US Senate to listen to them as well," Boehner said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "Republicans are simply postponing for a few days the inevitable choice they must face: pass a clean bill to fund the government, or force a shutdown. I have said it before but it seems to bear repeating: the Senate will not pass any bill that defunds or delays Obamacare."

But the Republicans defended their legislation to vote for funding the government, and defund the Obamacare. "Today, we stood up for the American people against the threats of President Obama's administration. The government will keep running, sequester savings are locked in and the nightmare known as Obamacare has been defunded by the House.

Now it's up to the Senate to finally do the same," Congressman Paul Gosar, said. Congressman Tom Price, vice-chairman of the House Committee on the Budget, said House Republicans have produced a common sense approach that would spare the American people the pain and economic damage of Obamacare, while keeping the federal government open. "It is fundamentally unfair for the Obama Administration to continue to over-extend its executive power to pick and choose who must suffer under Obamacare," Price said.

"If the president's health care law isn't right for this administration's allies, if the president has felt compelled to provide relief for big business, then there's no reason the American people should have to face this train wreck," he said.