Sen. Cruz: Republicans 'Scared' to Defund Obamacare

Republicans are "scared" to participate in the effort to defund Obamacare, Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Wednesday on Rush Limbaugh's radio show.

"Far too many Republicans are scared of this fight," Cruz said. "Unfortunately, right now, Republicans are still not ready to stand up and do what it takes to stop this law, to listen to the American people and say, 'Let's get rid of this job killer.'"

Cruz recognized the divide in the Republican party between members who vote to delay the law and those who want to defund it. He said those who vote to delay are only seeking "political cover" through a "symbolic" vote.

"When they say they want to delay it, what they really mean is they want to take a symbolic vote on a delay, but not tie it to anything that has to pass.

"So, the House can take a thousand symbolic votes, if they want. (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid won't allow anything to pass into law," he said.

Cruz stated the only way to halt the law was to not fund it. Because the government is currently operating without a formal appropriations process, continuing resolutions are necessary to fund government agencies. A continuing resolution will be needed in September to keep the government operating.

"The only plan that has been put forward that has any realistic prospect of success, of stopping Obamacare, is using the continuing resolution on Sept. 30, and saying, 'We will not fund one penny of Obamacare,'" Cruz said.

Should that lead to a government shutdown, Cruz said to place the blame on the president. "If President (Barack) Obama threatens to shut down the federal government, he may well try to do that."

Regarding media backlash against Republicans from a government shutdown, Cruz said that is to be expected.

"The mainstream (media) will all read word-for-word the talking points from the White House," he said.

Cruz admitted it will take a "grassroots tsunami" to get a majority of Republicans to back the effort to defund Obamacare, and mentioned a petition that already had 725,000 signatures.