" ... Obamacare would be the singular achievement of the Obama administration, the capstone of 100 years of American liberalism, and would bring us very close to the kind of government intrusion, regulation, domination that you find in the social democracies of Europe.
"If Obamacare fails, and it seems quite possible and to me actually somewhat likely, that would set back the liberal project of the inexorable expansion of the welfare state. It would set back that project by a generation. If the centerpiece of your idea, your ideal, turns out to be completely impractical, completely unworkable and completely insolvent financially, it'll be a really terrible blow.
"Liberals know that and that's why there's such fear and trembling among liberals at the terrible launch of Obamacare and all the obstacles that seem to lie beyond the launch."
Krauthammer wrote a column urging Republicans to give up on the government shutdown but press the president on the debt ceiling.