Miller: McConnell open to government shutdown. Doin' it Gingrich style, y'all.

According to wingnut Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller, potential Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is open to a shut down of the federal government.

Huff Post

In a fascinating interview with the National Review, Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller said that in a private conversation with Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader expressed openness to the idea of a government shutdown

"There was a comment made at breakfast this morning about shutting down the government, and he reacted in a positive way," Miller told the Review's Robert Costa. "I'm not going to quote him, but I think that he recognizes that that's on the table."

A spokesman for McConnell's office said he could not attest to the anecdote's veracity as he was not in the private meeting.

"I don't know what reacting in a positive way means or what the comment was," said the spokesman. "So it's tough for me to hypothesize on it."

Miller has pushed the idea of shutting down the government as a means of forcing the president's hand on a host of legislative matters. The primary battle will likely occur over repealing health care reform. Should a Republican-led Congress pass a budget that defunds the law, the president would either have to sign or veto the measure. Sans budget, the government could come to a halt, much like it did under the Newt Gingrich-led House during the Clinton administration.