Cruz won't say whether he would push for another shutdown

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, declined to say Thursday whether he will push for another government shutdown in the fight to defund the Affordable Care Act.

The shutdown -- which began Oct. 1 and ended Thursday after enactment of legislation funding the government through Jan. 15 and suspending the federal government's borrowing limit until Feb. 7 -- was largely a result of efforts by Cruz to unite congressional Republicans in opposition to the healthcare reform law commonly known as Obamacare.

In an interview with ABC News Thursday, Cruz was asked whether he will try the same tactic when government funding and the borrowing limit come up for debate again.

"I would do anything, and I will continue to do anything I can, to stop the train wreck that is Obamacare," Cruz said.

"Washington focuses on the politics all day long," he said. "That's what this town does, but what we saw in the deal last night, is that the U.S. Senate is not concerned about all the people out of a job, all the people in part-time work, all the people whose health insurance premiums are skyrocketing, all the people who are losing their health insurance, and that's happening because of Obamacare."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who helped negotiate the deal passed by the House and Senate, told The Hill another government shutdown is out of the question because the outcome of the just-ended political fight has "fully now acquainted our new members with what a losing strategy that is."

"One of my favorite old Kentucky sayings is there's no education in the second kick of a mule. The first kick of a mule was when we shut the government down in the mid 1990s and the second kick was over the last 16 days," he said. "There is no education in the second kick of a mule. There will not be a government shutdown."