Steve Stockman: People In Wheelchairs Help Democrats Win Health Care Argument

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) says he knows why Democrats are winning the argument on health care reform: They get help from sad-looking people in wheelchairs.

"Democrats will bring out somebody in a wheelchair, and we lose the argument on visuals," Stockman said Wednesday in an interview with Newsmax TV, which was flagged by Right Wing Watch.

Stockman was defending his support for a conservative effort in Congress that would shut down the government by blocking any continuing resolution that includes funding for the Affordable Care Act. But he disputed the characterization that Republicans are trying to shut down the government, and he called for a shift in messaging that emphasizes the need to keep the government running.

"One of the things that we’re doing wrong is that we’re accepting the argument that when we defund Obamacare, that we’re closing the government down," he said. "We’re not! In fact, we’re saving the nation’s future by not funding it."

But that suggestion holds little merit, given the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House would never allow a bill that unravels President Barack Obama's signature health care law to advance.

A number of Republicans have condemned the idea, forming a gap between tea party-backed lawmakers and some of the GOP's senior members of Congress. Former presidential nominee Mitt Romney also joined the chorus of naysayers this week, urging congressional Republicans not to tie their crusade against Obamacare to a government funding bill.