DALLAS -- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's message to Republican lawmakers who won't support defunding "Obamacare" at the risk of shutting down the government? "Don't blink." And he downplayed the effects of a possible shutdown, telling a Dallas crowd on Tuesday evening that the last time the government experienced "a temporary suspension of non-essential federal government spending," the military kept functioning and Social Security checks were distributed.
Cruz is leading the charge to defund President Barack Obama's health care law at what he calls "the single best time" to get rid of the law. And while Democrats who back the law certainly aren't on his side, Cruz has framed the fight so that they're not his only foes.
"We have to do something that conservatives haven't done in a long time: We've got to stand up and win the argument," Cruz told the crowd of thousands who gathered at the town hall style meeting.
Cruz said that if enough Republicans stand together, it will create an impasse to force the issue.
"A significant amount of Republicans assume, with an impasse, that President Obama will never ever ever give up his principles, so Republicans have to give up theirs," Cruz said. "If you have an impasse, you know -- one side or the other has to blink. How do we win this fight? Don't blink."
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