House GOP leaders are struggling to settle on a plan to open the federal government and raise the country’s debt ceiling that would placate the most conservative members of their rank and file, while Senate leaders grow increasingly concerned that the House’s latest actions could stymie a bipartisan agreement they are close to brokering to end the standoff.
Republicans in the House aim to build off the work of Senate leaders, but adding new sweeteners to their own plan that could help more conservative members get on board with a compromise.
The House plan would likely include more changes to President Obama’s health care law, including a delay in a tax on medical devices and a provision that would force members of Congress, their staff and cabinet members to get their health insurance from exchanges.
But even before the details of the plan emerged, the White House signaled that President Obama would reject it.
Source: ABC News – ABC News: Splintered House GOP Undermines Senate Progress on Shutdown, Debt Ceiling
The government shutdown began with Democrats saying Republican demands about Obamacare were ‘extortion.’ Now, as the GOP resistance collapses, Senate Democrats are pushing back.
For the past few weeks, Democrats from the president on down decried Republican tactics on a potential government shutdown as political hostage-taking on a par with “extortion.” So, of course, now that the Republicans are on the run, the Democrats are doing the exact same thing in reverse.
They’re saying they want to undo major part of the sequester budget cuts as part of a deal to end the government shutdown and raise the debt limit. It’s as though Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada has finally sensed his moment to destroy that product of tea party Republicanism once and for all. One might not even be surprised if “Ride of the Valkyries” was booming from his Senate office this morning.
That is how dramatically the story in Washington has flipped during the two weeks since the government shutdown.
Source: Yahoo! News – Yahoo! News: Government shutdown backfires? GOP says Democrats now guilty of extortion
For the first time, optimism has come from both sides of the aisle in negotiations toward raising the country’s debt limit.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid told reporters there was “tremendous progress” in negotiations. Sources close to the negotiations said that a deal to ending the partial government shutdown is being neared as well.
“We hope with good fortune,” Reid told reporters. “Perhaps tomorrow will be a bright day. We’re not there yet.”
Closed door meetings of both parties were scheduled for Tuesday. However, there is concern that even if a deal is reached in the Senate on Tuesday, there will not be enough time for both houses of Congress to act before the Thursday deadline.
There is also concern that some Republicans would act to slow down any deal from being passed before the Thursday deadline.
Washington is deadlocked as it enters the 14th day of a partial government shutdown that leaves the United States facing the prospect of defaulting on its bonds – a move that could send both the dollar and global financial markets into a tailspin.
The crisis has already led to furloughs of 350,000 federal workers, canceled military training missions and slowed economic growth.
Following multiple talks between Republican congressional leaders and President Barack Obama over the past two weeks, the negotiations are now focused on Senate leadership from both sides of the aisle. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell launched last-ditch negotiations over the weekend to end the spending and debt stalemate, but they may not be able to reach an agreement that can pass both the House and Senate.
Source: NBC News – NBC News: Government shutdown, day 14: Where does it go from here?
The partial federal government shutdown begins Day 14 amid even greater anxiety. The nation could face its first-ever default if the debt ceiling is not raised by Thursday. What you need to know on Monday, Oct. 14:
Shutdown, debt deal hangs on Senate leaders
It’s come down to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and his GOP counterpart, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Many on Capitol Hill are looking at talks between the two Senate leaders as the last — and best — hope for a deal that would end the government shutdown and raise the debt limit of $16.7 trillion. The two leaders asserted control over negotiations to end the stalemate on Saturday, when it became clear that House Speaker John Boehner could not strike a deal with the White House on his own. Reid said he was “optimistic,” while Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said Republicans are “very unified” behind McConnell.
Source: USA Today – USA Today: 5 things to know about government shutdown today
Just days after the White House opened the national mall for a rally to support illegal immigration, American war veterans who descended on the nation’s capital to protest the Obama administration’s shuttering of war memorials were met with police in riot gear.
The “Million Vet March” is aimed to take the administration to task for closing open-air memorials to America’s veterans in a move that has never been made before in government shutdowns. The open-air memorials are usually not manned by the National Park Service, so it costs more to shutter them than to leave them open to the public.
The veterans stormed the memorials today and removed the barricades. The barricades were carried a half-mile to the Pennsylvania Avenue gate of the White House and left them there with American flags hanging from them.
The response of the government was to send police in riot gear to confront the World War II veterans at their memorial and those who were marching toward the White House.
The morning began with a rally led by Sen. Ted Cruz and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. The crowd sang songs like “God bless America” and called for the government to stop their harassment of America’s war veterans by denying them access to memorials for the sacrifices of their brothers-in-arms.
“This is the people’s memorial,” Sen. Cruz told the crowd.
“In a mean-spirited fit of selfish anger, Barack Obama has shut down our nation’s war memorials,” march organizers said in a press release. “And he has declared open war on our honored veterans. The World War II memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, Obama has shut them all down to force his will on the House of Representatives and, frankly, to get revenge on the American people who oppose ObamaCare and his other naked power grabs.”
Only one arrest was reported by mid-afternoon Sunday.
House Republicans have sent a proposal to President Obama that would end the 11 day partial government shutdown and avert a default by raising the nation’s debt ceiling.
The proposal includes changes in Obamacare as part of the end to the impasse. Also, some benefit programs would also see budget cuts.
The President has previously said he will not negotiate with Republicans on federal spending until the government is reopened and the debt ceiling raised without any conditions. The White House had seemed open to negotiation on Thursday until Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appeared at the White House to have a meeting with the President.
“[It’s time to] put this hysterical talk of default behind us and instead start talking about finding solutions to the problems,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters.
It may be a temporary victory but the children who play lacrosse in Northern Virginia with the McLean Youth Lacrosse organization are celebrating.
A court case was filed on behalf of the players of that league to reopen Langley Fork Park in McLean, Virginia, which had been shut down by the National Park Service due to the government shutdown. The park is located on federal land but is operated by Fairfax County Park Authority who has funds to continue operating the park.
The crux of the case was that the players paid their fees for use of the park to Fairfax County, not the National Park Service. The judge ruled because the local entity runs all operations of the park, the federal government cannot stop a group that legally paid for use of the park from using facilities.
There will be another hearing on October 18th for a more permanent injunction should the government continue to be shuttered.
Legal observers say while this case does not impact any other parks on federal land that are run by state or private groups, it does set a precedent and it’s likely more cases will be filed in the next few days.
The Obama administration announced that it will allow states to use their own money to reopen some national parks that had been closed in the federal government shutdown.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said they will consider offers from individual states to reopen some parks but they will not relinquish control of the park itself to the states.
The governors of Utah, South Dakota, Arizona and Colorado have made requests to the administration to allow the states to fund park operations. The governors say the closure of the parks has had a unusually large impact on the communities surrounding the parks.
“The current federally mandated closure is decimating the bottom line of bed-and-breakfast business owners and operators in Torrey (Utah), outfitters at Bryce Canyon City and restaurant owners in Moab,” Utah Governor Gary Herbert wrote. He estimated the shutdown has cost Utah $100 million so far.
The National Park Service itself has stated they are losing close to $450,000 a day in revenue from the parks.
As the U.S. comes within a week of hitting the nation’s debt limit nations across the world are beginning to show their anger over the situation.
“What is chilling is that US politicians are willing to engage in a game of brinkmanship that is tantamount to detonating a nuclear device over their economy,” writes the Times of India.
UAE Businessman Khalaf Ahmad Al-Habtoor wrote in the The Arab Times: “”There is something fundamentally wrong with a system that leaves a country without direction, in stagnation, without a budget and potentially without the wherewithal to settle its debts.”
If the U.S. were to default on October 17th, it would have a crushing impact on nations that use the U.S. Dollar as their official currency. The dollar would plummet on the world markets and so third world nations like Zimbabwe who use the dollar will see their country’s overall market power and value dive.
While most world leaders are publicly stating that they believe the U.S. will find a way to raise their debt ceiling and get the nation’s economy moving again, according to multiple news reports privately they’re getting concerned.
