Rep. Issa: Obamacare 'Not Ready for Prime Time'

Rep. Darrell Issa said on Saturday that "Obamacare is not ready for prime time" and that the Senate should back legislation passed by the House of Representatives to temporarily finance the federal government while defunding the healthcare act.

"The president himself had to delay the implementation of the employer mandate," Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told Fox News. "Employees and nonemployees are going to be required to try to find insurance from systems that aren't set up with security capabilities that are proven.

"There really is a reason to delay Obamacare — and that's really what defunding it for this year is all about," the California Republican added. "It's about not having it go forward before it's ready."

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives voted 230-189 on Friday to keep the government running through mid-December while stripping funds for Obamacare.

The House vote sets up a showdown with the Senate and the White House.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said that the House bill will pass with the exception of defunding Obamacare — and President Barack Obama has said that he would veto any legislation that does not include funding for his healthcare plan.

Without a continuing funding resolution, the government could shut down on Sept. 30, the end of its current fiscal year.

"We can reduce the cost of healthcare by not implementing prematurely Obamacare and by trying to find viable ways to deliver healthcare to all Americans for less," Issa told Fox.

Outside of the healthcare issue, the legislation approved on Friday includes more than 99 percent of what Obama said he needed to keep the government from shutting down, he said.

"What the amazing thing is that if the House votes to provide 99.9 percent of all the funds necessary — and the president says, 'No, I want a full 100 percent,' the answer has to be, 'Well, you're not the chief appropriator.' The House of Representatives has that requirement," Issa said.

"We have to take it seriously that if Obamacare is not ready — if it's not safe; if the American people are going see both waste and confusion — we should act now to stave it off."

He added: "We're offering the president 99-plus percent of the money he says he needs, and he's saying that he's going to shut down the government over the 1 percent.

"That's not reaching across the aisle," Issa said. "That's not making compromise."