One Republican’s Last Ditch Effort To Undermine Obamacare: ‘Break The Law And Engage In Civil Disobedience’

After Republicans spent the past three years unsuccessfully opposing health care reform en masse — introducing dozens of failed repeal bills, losing a Supreme Court case, and being defeated in a presidential election — former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) is promoting a last-ditch effort to undermine Obamacare: simply “break the law.”

At a rally in Chicago on Wednesday, the one-term Tea Party congressman encouraged supporters to block health care reform and prospective gun laws in whatever way possible, legally or illegally. DNAinfo Chicago has more:

At his most aggressive, he told dozens of supporters to “defy and or break the law and engage in civil disobedience” if faced with federal health care law restrictions or new gun laws.

He paraphrased Thomas Jefferson in saying, “We may have to shed blood every couple hundred years to preserve our freedoms.”

Walsh’s comments reflect a disturbing recent trend among Republicans desperate to undo health care reform by any means necessary. Lawmakers in two states, Wisconsin and South Carolina, have proposed legislation to arrest any official caught trying to implement Obamacare. In South Carolina, the legislation proposed a possible five-year prison sentence for federal employees or contractors who attempt to enforce the law.

Since being voted out of office in November, Walsh has been openly weighing a run for Illinois governor in 2014.