WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than a third of House Republicans urged their leader Thursday to trigger a government shutdown rather than fund the implementation of the health care overhaul they call "Obamacare."

A letter from 80 Republicans asked Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to resist any spending bills that would accommodate the new health care law, which is nearing a critical stage of signing up millions of Americans for health coverage.

Because it's virtually certain that President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Senate would reject such demands, leaders of both parties say the standoff likely would result in a partial shutdown of the federal government, similar to those that occurred in 1995 and 1996.

The letter is mixed news for Boehner and other GOP leaders who view a government shutdown as politically unwise.

With 80 of the House's 233 Republicans signing the letter, a solid majority of 153 has refrained from trying to limit Boehner's options. That presumably would allow the speaker to push a bipartisan bill that funds the health law and is supported by a "majority of the majority" of his fellow Republicans, which Boehner says is essential.

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Read more:http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/U...-08-23-04-13-00

New Republican Campaign Slogan:

Vote GOP. Because we didn't GIVE you Obamacare, but we'll sure as hell fund it.