Pelosi calls government shutdown a GOP political trophy

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the bill to defund President Obama's healthcare initiative was actually aimed at shutting down the U.S. government.

Pelosi, D-Calif., said on CNN's "Face the Nation" Sunday that the move to cut off money to the controversial "Obamacare" program was a secondary goal of right-wing House Republicans whose primary goal was pulling the plug on the entire federal government.

"They want to shut down the government," Pelosi declared. "The effect of putting the Affordable Care Act on the bill is to shut down government. They know that and they know that it has no prospect of prevailing."

While reiterating the projected benefits to the public from Obamacare, Pelosi said the bill, which ties funding to continue day-to-day operations to defunding the healthcare reforms, a political trophy.

"The Republicans put legislation on the floor that was intended to shut down government," Pelosi said. "For them, that's a victory, because they are anti-government ideologues who dominate the Republican Party."

Al Cardenas of the American Conservative Union said later in the program that "Obamacare" had already been decisively rejected by the country and accused President Obama of pursing an "albatross" because he was overly concerned with his presidential legacy.

"If the president forgot about his legacy and became a leader, he would say, 'All right, let's come up with a compromise.' But that's not what they're doing."