Business Groups Urge Congress to Reopen as Shutdown Drags on
Source: New York Times
Business Groups Urge Congress to Reopen as Shutdown Drags On
By JONATHAN WEISMAN and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON — House Republicans, facing the ninth day of a government shutdown, appeared increasingly isolated on Wednesday from even their strongest backers, with business groups demanding the immediate reopening of the government and benefactors such as Koch Industries publicly distancing themselves from the shutdown fight.
Republican and Democratic leaders met at noon to try to find a way forward, both on reopening the government and on raising the federal debt limit before the Treasury exhausts its ability to borrow on Oct. 17. Leading Republicans in the House appeared to be trying to move the stalemate away from efforts to defund President Obama’s health care law to a broader discussion of fiscal policy.
In an opinion piece in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin and chairman of the House Budget Committee, proposed negotiating a continuing resolution to reopen the government with a focus on changes to entitlement programs like Medicare and a reshaping of the federal tax code. He did not mention the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans had said must be defunded, delayed or damaged before the full government is to be reopened.
It was not clear whether conservative rank-and-file Republicans would go along with that redirection. But other voices usually allied with Republicans stepped up pleas for an end to the standoff. On Wednesday, the National Retail Federation joined other business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers in asking House Republicans to relent.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/us/politics/business-groups-urge-congress-to-reopen-as-shutdown-drags-on.html?ref=global-home&_r=0
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The government must be re-opened without conditions. The debt ceiling must be raised without conditions.
Only then do the House and Senate sit down to work out the first budget since when, 2009? The Senate has offered to sit down and discuss a budget all year but the pukes have said no. Their entire strategy was to wait until there was the prospect of a government shutdown or a debt ceiling crisis to exact, at gunpoint, concessions.
This President has learned a lesson - Never, Ever, Ever negotiate with terrorists, domestic or otherwise. He didn't negotiate with OBL why should he negotiate with the Tali-Teabaggers?
Stop Mr. Obama and the Senate - do NOT, repeat NOT give an inch. The pukes are lynching themselves in public opinion. We need to find a way out of this but the GOP has lost all hope of winning control of the Senate in 2014 and may well lose the House. Stand firm when you are correct (not to be confused with "right"
!!!!