Chrissy Gibson makes no apologies for her support.
Sure, she is upset her friends who work for the federal government have been furloughed. And yes, she dislikes that her family's favorite hiking spot at one of Georgia's premier national parks has been closed by the budget battle.
But she stands by U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, one of the approximately 40 tea party and conservative Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives considered the architects of the government shutdown aimed at dismantling or defunding the Affordable Care Act, also referred to as Obamacare.
For many, Gingrey and these other lawmakers are responsible for furloughing hundreds of thousands of federal workers, closing national parks and monuments and shuttering federal research. But for many of those in their districts -- people like Gibson and her family -- these representatives are soldiers in a battle of principle, standing up to an out-of-control government.
"He's standing up for what he believes, and somebody has to do that," said Gibson, 37.
Anger is unlikely to change the position of these conservative Republicans.
Just ask Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who was elected to Congress in 2012. He told reporters that his support for the shutdown was simple: "All that really matters is what my district wants. And my district is overwhelmingly in favor of my position."
Or ask Rep. Mark Meadows, who represents the western part of North Carolina.
"My job first is to make sure I represent the people back home," Meadows told CNN recently. "I don't believe that when I get here that people expect me to look at the political implications. That's for somebody else to focus on."
Gingrey has been a frontrunner among those in Congress working to overturn Obama's signature health care law that passed in 2010 when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress.
"A majority of Americans think Obamacare will make health care in our country worse, and they're right," the 71-year-old Gingrey said recently.
His stance against the Affordable Care Act has earned him an enormous amount of support among his constituents in Georgia's 11th Congressional District, which covers the northwest suburbs of Atlanta.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/09/us/shutdown-battle-of-principle/
Sure, she is upset her friends who work for the federal government have been furloughed. And yes, she dislikes that her family's favorite hiking spot at one of Georgia's premier national parks has been closed by the budget battle.
But she stands by U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, one of the approximately 40 tea party and conservative Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives considered the architects of the government shutdown aimed at dismantling or defunding the Affordable Care Act, also referred to as Obamacare.
For many, Gingrey and these other lawmakers are responsible for furloughing hundreds of thousands of federal workers, closing national parks and monuments and shuttering federal research. But for many of those in their districts -- people like Gibson and her family -- these representatives are soldiers in a battle of principle, standing up to an out-of-control government.
"He's standing up for what he believes, and somebody has to do that," said Gibson, 37.
Anger is unlikely to change the position of these conservative Republicans.
Just ask Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who was elected to Congress in 2012. He told reporters that his support for the shutdown was simple: "All that really matters is what my district wants. And my district is overwhelmingly in favor of my position."
Or ask Rep. Mark Meadows, who represents the western part of North Carolina.
"My job first is to make sure I represent the people back home," Meadows told CNN recently. "I don't believe that when I get here that people expect me to look at the political implications. That's for somebody else to focus on."
Gingrey has been a frontrunner among those in Congress working to overturn Obama's signature health care law that passed in 2010 when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress.
"A majority of Americans think Obamacare will make health care in our country worse, and they're right," the 71-year-old Gingrey said recently.
His stance against the Affordable Care Act has earned him an enormous amount of support among his constituents in Georgia's 11th Congressional District, which covers the northwest suburbs of Atlanta.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/09/us/shutdown-battle-of-principle/