Government shutdown talks hit snag in Senate (updated headline)
Last edited Sun Oct 13, 2013, 09:16 PM - Edit history (4)
Source: Washington Post
The protracted stalemate has left Congress facing twin crises: Thursday’s deadline to raise the nation’s borrowing limit or risk a potentially catastrophic debt default, and a federal government shutdown that will enter its third week Tuesday.
Republicans had hoped they could use the standoff to gain leverage in their fight with Democrats over the budget and President Obama’s healthcare law, but find themselves in a dramatically weakened position. They have failed to unify around a common negotiating position and face polls showing that the public by large margins blames them for the stalemate.
As a result, a confrontation that started with the GOP on the offensive, driving to block or delay the healthcare law, has become a defensive effort by Republicans to hold onto budget cuts they achieved over the last several years.
On one level, the remaining issues up for debate are relatively small. Republicans have conceded that they will need to vote to end the government shutdown and extend the government’s ability to borrow money. At least in the Senate, they have given up their efforts to “defund or delay” Obamacare.
Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-government-shutdown-20131013,0,3347128.story
Senate Republicans want to extend the debt ceiling for just a few weeks, but would fund government agencies for a longer period to lock in current low spending levels.
Democrats want to extend the debt ceiling until after next fall’s congressional elections, but they prefer a shorter extension of funds for government agencies. That would allow spending levels to be renegotiated before a new round of so-called sequester cuts takes effect in the new year.
= new reply since forum marked as read
