Why Are House Republicans Driving the US Toward Default? Birth Control.
You probably already know that House Republicans messed around all day and then couldn’t agree on anything enough to call a vote, so we’re one day closer to a default on the US debt. But did you know one of the main sticking points for the Tea Party fanatics driving this crazy train is… birth control?
Conservative House members expressed a desire Tuesday to fund the government only until Dec. 15 in order to force a fight over ObamaCare’s birth control mandate.
Members of the House GOP discussed a proposal that would reopen the government through mid-December, just weeks before a provision of the mandate takes effect on Jan. 1 for religiously affiliated groups.
Republicans seemed adrift after canceling a vote on a debt-limit plan Tuesday night.
But members of the party signaled concerns about letting the Jan. 1 date pass without waging a battle over contraception.
“It boils down to conscience protections that basically become compromised on the first of January, and that’s bothersome to a lot of people,” Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) told reporters Tuesday afternoon.