April 8, 2011 in Nation/World

Time’s about up: Shutdown looms without agreement

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — On the brink of a painful government shutdown, the Obama administration readied furlough notices for hundreds of thousands of workers today as Republican and Democratic leaders accused each other of refusing to give ground on a deal to keep operations running.

By midday Friday, most employees of the federal workforce had been told whether they had been deemed essential or would be temporarily laid off from work if lawmakers failed to reach an agreement by midnight. In the event of a shutdown, official furlough notices would begin going out by email, by written letter or in person.

Many workers would be allowed into their offices for up to four hours on Monday to finish tasks, but that would be it.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused the Republicans of blocking a compromise because they were determined to make it harder “for women to get cancer screenings.” That was a reference to money for Planned Parenthood, an organization Republicans assail as the country’s largest provider of abortions.

Reid’s main antagonist in the long-running negotiations, House Speaker John Boehner, said spending cuts — not social issues — were blocking agreement to prevent a shutdown.

“Most of the policy issues have been dealt with, and the big fight is about spending,” Boehner said Friday afternoon.

Barring an agreement or perhaps another temporary bill to keep the government operating, the shutdown of most of the government would begin at midnight. Many essential workers, such as mail carriers, air traffic controllers and the military, would stay on the job, but national parks would close and pay for troops and other workers could be delayed.

President Barack Obama canceled a trip to Indianapolis Friday to stay in Washington and spoke in separate phone calls with Reid and Boehner Friday morning.

But with no compromise in sight, the White House found itself in a holding pattern as the shutdown clock ticked toward midnight. The president was updated by staff on developments on Capitol Hill, and spent his afternoon in policy and national security meetings. By late afternoon, aides said there were no plans for the president to summon congressional leaders to the White House.

Obama, Reid and Boehner met at the White House Thursday night for the third time in two days, and their aides struggled without success to reach agreement in middle-of-the-night talks in the Capitol.

Republicans have been seeking $40 billion in cuts, as well as several other provisions to advance the conservative agenda backed by a rank and file that includes dozens of first-termers elected with the support of tea party activists.

Reid said the two sides had reached agreement on $38 billion in spending cuts and the only hang-up was a Republican demand to cut a federal program that provides women’s health and family planning services.

“They are willing to throw women under the bus, even if it means they’ll shut down the government,” he said. “Republican leaders in the House have only a few hours left to look in the mirror, snap out of it and realize how positively shameful that would be.”

But Boehner said there was “only one reason that we do not have an agreement as yet, and that issue is spending.”

“When will the White House and when will Senate Democrats get serious about cutting federal spending?” he asked.

Boehner urged Obama to reconsider a veto threat against legislation to keep the government open for one additional week while negotiators continue working on a deal to fund federal programs through Sept. 30.

The short-term measure includes $12 billion in spending cuts and would provide enough funds to keep the Pentagon in operation through Sept. 30.

Obama said ominously on Friday night that the machinery of a shutdown was already in motion.

Congressional aides were trying to cobble together a deal on how much federal spending to slash, where to cut it and what caveats to attach as part of a bill to fund the government through the end of the budget year on Sept. 30. The most recent temporary federal spending measure expires at midnight.

For a nation eager to trim to federal spending but also weary of Washington bickering, the spending showdown had real implications.

A closure would mean the furloughs of hundreds of thousands of workers and the services they provide, from processing many tax refunds to approving business loans. Medical research would be disrupted, national parks would close and most travel visa and passport services would stop, among many others.

Republicans want deeper spending cuts than the Democrats favor and also are pressing for provisions to cut off federal funds to Planned Parenthood and to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing numerous anti-pollution regulations.

“They’re difficult issues. They’re important to both sides and so I’m not yet prepared to express wild optimism,” the president said.

There was agreement that a shutdown posed risks to an economy still recovering from the worst recession in decades.

The political fallout was less predictable, especially with control of government divided and dozens of new tea party-backed Republicans part of a new GOP majority in the House. Twin government shutdowns in the mid-1990s damaged Republicans, then new to power in Congress, and helped President Bill Clinton win re-election in 1996.

This time, individual lawmakers worked to insulate themselves from any political damage. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., both seeking new terms in 2012, became the latest to announce they would not accept congressional pay during any shutdown. “If retroactive pay is later approved, I’ll direct my part to the U.S. Treasury,” Nelson said. Some two dozen senators of both parties scurried to make similar pledges.

There also were hints Thursday of Republican flexibility on the ban they were seeking to deny federal funds to Planned Parenthood. Officials said Republicans had suggested giving state officials discretion in deciding how to distribute family planning funds that now go directly from the federal government to organizations such as Planned Parenthood.

That would presumably leave a decision on funding to governors, many of whom oppose abortion, and sever the financial link with the federal government.

42 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

IHike4Fun on April 08 at 2:17 p.m.
Reid said “They are willing to throw … under the bus …
Have you noticed how often this phrase has been used since the current administration took office. This will go down in history as the ‘Let’s throw them under the bus’ presidency.
MrNatural on April 08 at 2:47 p.m.
I think it is just a sorrowful shame that this wave of ultra conservatism has swept away all the compassion from this country. Given the examples of how these new republicans have tactically slandered public employees, immigrants, the poor and unemployed and anything that is divergent to their form of Christianity then coldly oppose and abandoned the funding of social programs for the great number of vulnerable and low income people in this country is by all moral accounts inhuman un-American and unconscionable. How can they stress to the point of harm so many people and in the same breath continue to ruin our nation’s revenues insisting on tax cuts for more riches for private corporations.
Instead of helping to bring this nation together to address the needs of its citizens these Tea-O-Con Republicans instead render this country like hyenas for private greed…how shameful their actions will be looked upon by future scrutiny…where is their compassion for their fellow man?
ManleyPointer on April 08 at 3:14 p.m.
I guess different people define compassion differently. I think it’s inhuman, un-American and unconscionable to use the federal government and tax dollars to create an enormous class of dispirited, self-loathing dependents. But that’s just my belief, and I could be wrong.
Diana on April 08 at 3:43 p.m.
Crisis! Crisis! Women getting pap smears bankrupted the economy!
dataxman on April 08 at 3:49 p.m.
Do not forget this is a budget for the fiscal year that started October 2010. Had the Democrats - who controlled both houses of Congress and the Presidency - done their jobs and passed a budget, this exercise would not be happening.
These pathetic mental midgets called democrats running to the microphone, complaining that the grown-ups are now in charge and trying to get a hand on our trillion dollar deficit shows why we have to finish in 2012 what was started in 2010 - give all the power to Conservatives!
Scoutster on April 08 at 3:52 p.m.
dataxman…
Been there. Done that. Still recovering.
Stop being so good to us!
misjustice on April 08 at 4:08 p.m.
dataxman; I am sure that you know that it (NOW, as in last year) takes 60 votes in the Senate to overcome a “filibuster”… the Dems had a majority but not the super-majority required to overcome the opposition and its desire to block the political process.
To continually state that the Dems had a majority and therefore it is their fault that the budget didn’t get passed is technically correct while also being disingenuous; they could not muster the votes required to by pass the Party of NO! But I’m sure that you know that.
Just sayin’.
; )
Ron_the_Cop on April 08 at 4:15 p.m.
Shut it down!
The Dems were in control when this budget should have been debated/approved before the Nov election. They didn’t do it because they wanted to avoid the wrath of the voters at the ballot box. They still got slammed with an important message from the taxpayers.
I’m not very sympathetic to their calls that the sky is falling regarding women’s health care. This is a red herring. However I believe both sides of the aisle should send up a CR to fund the military through the end of this budget year without the ideological based riders on such a bill.
We could easily defund a lot of our current foreign aid without significant impact with the exception of those areas critical to our national interests.
These folks are getting big bucks from us WE THE TAXPAYERS. It’s time for them both to do their job and stop posturing for political advantage. They should cut their checks too as long as they can’t come to an agreement while the government is shut down. The voters are not all that dumb.
Ron_the_Cop on April 08 at 4:18 p.m.
Justy,
You do have a point but the Dems were split among themselves for political appearance reasons. They could have brought the budget up like many of the Congresses before them routinely do and hashed it out but the leadership chose not to do it for political reasons.
Time to pay the piper as the chickens come home to roost.
hawken on April 08 at 4:25 p.m.
Shut it down!
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 64% of Likely U.S. Voters believe America is overtaxed. Twenty-four percent (24%) disagree, and 11% are undecided.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/taxes/april_2011/64_say_americans_are_overtaxed_political_class_disagrees
Diana on April 08 at 4:35 p.m.
Maybe if the zero tax paying multi-national corporations started paying taxes and corporate welfare stopped, the voters wouldn’t feel so put upon.
Shut it down? At your peril, baggers. Tammy Faye Boehner will become the new Newt Gingrich.
Shadedmuse on April 08 at 4:37 p.m.
When you quote a rassmussen poll you loose all credibilty.
The U.S is not over taxed, taxes are at their lowest ever, its time to bring the tax levels back to the eisenhower era and make the corperations and rich pay their fair share and end the free ride for these fat cat free loaders with all the money that are not paying their share, its time to spread the wealth.
ManleyPointer on April 08 at 4:50 p.m.
I am admittedly not smart enough to discuss tax policy and deficit reduction in detail with any degree of credibility. I think it’s a really complicated issue, not susceptible of being resolved in a forum such as this. I suspect that a discussion wherein the two sides shout “CUT SPENDING!!” and “TAX CORPORATIONS AND THE RICH!!” at each other really doesn’t advance our understanding of the problem or get us any closer to a solution. But again, I’m not that bright and might be completely mistaken about this.
hawken on April 08 at 5:08 p.m.
Sorry Shadedmuse:
Maybe I should have looked for something on the “Huffington Report.” Or, MSNBC, or ABC, or NBC, or CBS, or CNN. Does George Soros have a pollster?
Actually, I should have started with “Democracy Now.” I’m sure that Amy Goodman would never ignore any pollster that’s contrary to her hyper-left, selective view. See her comments today on the opinion string.
Oh yes! How could I over look the hyper-left Pitts? I think his first name is Leonard? Please correct me if Leonard is incorrect.
Andrew5 on April 08 at 5:09 p.m.
And it comes down to the same two problems, democrats and republicans. The infighting between the two parties has taken away any true represention for the people. Until we stop allowing the two party system to exist, we will never have true representation. Its all about party loyalty and taking care of who donated to your campaign.
Scoutster on April 08 at 5:20 p.m.
It’s time to take our country back!
Let’s start with Ike-era tax brackets!
dataxman on April 08 at 5:27 p.m.
misjustice - correct it was 59/41. However, the ‘R’s seemed to get budgets passed when they were under 60 votes. Like I said - grown-ups were in charge.
Scoutster - great, let’s go back to Ike-era tax brackets - and tax loopholes. You realize no one actually paid the 90% rate - don’t you?
hawken on April 08 at 5:27 p.m.
Andrew5
Our founding fathers banked on two opposing parties.
By design. It’s called “check and balance.”
Look at the calamity we’re suffering from when the Democrats controlled the house, senate and presidency for the last two, calendar years.
We desperately need more conservative, Tea Party, Republicans, for the check and balance to work. I look forward to November 2012.
SpokaneWobbly on April 08 at 5:34 p.m.
ManlyPointer’s incredulous musings on basic, bare-minimum women’s healthcare are absolutely correct.
There is nothing more unpatriotic, dispiriting or loathsome than a woman who, through Title X, doesn’t have to choose between a pap smear or her heat bill. Nothing.
Scoutster on April 08 at 6:01 p.m.
hawken..
Our Founding Fathers didn’t create the two party system in the Constitution.
And political parties are NOT what “checks and balances” means.
dataxman….
There are lot more lawyers, accountants and lobbyists per capita now than in Ike’s time. Sure there were tax loopholes, but the scale of power was not as great then. Corporations were not as large and move as much money as they do now. More zeros now, which has given rise to the tax evasion industry. It’s profitable to get out of paying $20 million, whereas hiring a suit to save $2K didn’t make much sense then.
monkeyman on April 08 at 6:09 p.m.
Let’s privatize the government… although private-govt would be an oxymoron.
Perhaps we can outsource the congress…?
Diana on April 08 at 6:24 p.m.
Soros! Drink!
mrd on April 08 at 6:29 p.m.
Both parties are to blame for this mess. It’s a shame they cannot compromise for the good of the country. Maybe if their pay was based on performance we would get somewhere. You notice they won’t lose any pay and they continue to get raises and fantastic benefits while the rest of us peons struggle.
hawken on April 08 at 6:33 p.m.
The stupidity of this debate and the “clear” difference between conservatives and democrats can be summed up in Obama’s Debt Commission. See it for yourself.
Of course, Obama has totally, totally, ignored the recommendations of his own “Debt Commission.”
It was only part of his “campaign mode” to temporarily shift the discussion from himself. After all, re-election his Obama’s primary goal. To hell with our future if it put’s Obama’s political future at risk.
Tax the so-called wealthy 100% and it will NOT fix our financial crisis.
Yet, Democrats refuse to cut the budget the 1.7% the Republican house is insisting upon with their $61 Billion cuts.
All of this clearly demonstrates what a nanny government, dependent people we have become.
Explain that to your children and their posterity for generations to come.
More and more, we demonstrate that we are truly the “greediest generation” as compared to the “greatest generation.”
SpokaneWobbly on April 08 at 6:38 p.m.
As a member of the Deficit Cargo Cult I can assure you that jobs will return for reals, just as soon as enough of the poor, elderly, underprivileged and disenfranchised are sacrificed on our Altar of Private Sector Uncertainty.
Welcome to the fold, in your tote bag you’ll find complimentary top-bracket tax cuts, capital gains tax cuts, corporate tax cuts and two unfunded wars!
johnclarke on April 08 at 6:45 p.m.
“We desperately need more conservative, Tea Party, Republicans, for the check and balance to work. I look forward to November 2012.”
Professor Hawken, I ask you again to produce evidence of any conservative or republican administration that has ever reduced the size of government or reduced spending. Evidence. Proof. Got any?
Diana ! Totally ! Cupcake Cabernet! (I normally stick to Washington wines, but CA can use the business)
johnclarke on April 08 at 6:52 p.m.
“I’m not very sympathetic to their calls that the sky is falling regarding women’s health care. This is a red herring.”
Ron, really? Using Hawken speak? Listen, trying to defund Planned Parenthood has been a conservative wet dream forever. There is no federal funding for abortion. None. It’s prohibited by law. Unfortunately, people just don’t seem to get that.97% of what PP does is woman’s health. 3% is the A word.
Perhaps the Republicans could stop being so freakin odd, and remove the riders. We’d probably have a budget.
johnclarke on April 08 at 6:56 p.m.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_spending_showdown_planned_parenthood
and for the people that don’t believe me…
hawken on April 08 at 7:05 p.m.
Clarke; I’m done with your ubiquitous, “Red Herrings.”
You really should deal with the issues that affect us today, in real time.
Let’s agree on this. Both Republican and Democrat administrations in the past have ownership in our current calamity.
Today. We need decisions made by Congress and the President that are unprecedented, considering our financial crisis, today.
johnclarke on April 08 at 7:09 p.m.
No, Professor; it does not work like that. There are no conservatives, because you are all a bunch of frauds and liars. We would have a budget RIGHT NOW if the Republicans would remove their insane riders.
You and your kind got us here. The President is clearly drawing a line and acting like a professional. Your side is acting like a bunch of little girls. (no offense to girls)
I present facts and data, you present hyperbole.
PlanB on April 08 at 7:15 p.m.
Guess which left-wing liberal wingnut signed Title X? Nixon. Blame Nixon!
Scoutster, right on. But it must get tiring giving Govt100 lessons to people.
hawken on April 08 at 7:33 p.m.
Let’s be clear here. This fight is over the 2011 budget.
The fight over the 2012 budget is next.
The Democrats could have passed the 2011 Budget in 2010 when they owned, owned, the house, senate and presidency. That budget, which they didn’t pass was due on October 1, 2010.
The Democrats DID NOT pass that budget, because they didn’t want to be accountable to the voters in November 2010.
Had they passed Obama’s $3.7 Trillion budget in October, we would also have a Republican controlled Senate today, as well.
The American people are sick and tired of big government spending.
Meanwhile, we fight over crumbs of $61 Billion, as calculated by the Democrats in 2010. It’s called “political posturing.”
johnclarke on April 08 at 7:42 p.m.
No, Hawken. We are fighting because of the attached GOP riders. Don’t try to change the subject.
By the way, do you have any evidence of any GOP administration ever cutting spending and the size of government?
johnclarke on April 08 at 7:52 p.m.
and BTW, Professor - the GOP will accept way less than the promised budget cuts, since they are liars and frauds. They will remove their wacko riders and take about 30-40 billion in cuts. And I bet they do it before the deadline.
*yawn* ok that’s all for tonight.
mikeln on April 08 at 7:58 p.m.
This is the biggest load I’ve ever seen. The majority of our country have no one to speak for them. The news media ingores us, our government is owned by the wealthy and our president is clearly not working for us and has not lived up to any of his promises. What can you expect from people that only have their self-interest in mind. Nothing, and we seem to be getting even less then that. Wars that have been contracted out to avoid a draft, Trillions lost. Health care reform that is nothing but a give away to the people already robbing us. Our only energy policy being written by private industry on the fly. The list goes on and on and on, screwing us at every opportunity, out in the open, while passing laws that make the immoral legal. People seem to be stocking up, a good idea now that our country has lost its compass.
johnclarke on April 08 at 8:25 p.m.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/04/08/congress.budget/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1
Oh look Hawken, I’m 100% right and you are 100% wrong. Hurts, don’t it? Get used to it.
DickAdams on April 08 at 8:47 p.m.
Can you believe John Clarke saying that all GOP persons are frauds, and liars. I think like most Americans do, and I`m sick and tired of both parties. Take a look at the career political pimps with their self serving interests, that have been there for decades. Its pathetic. Once our elected officials, after a few short years, set up residence in Washington, DC and they forget who put them office because they are contaminated.. I can think of a few from both sides of the isle who belong in the Iron Bar Hotel. Of course their are exceptions. David Kucinch from Ohio is one. He appears to be his own man. I can think of another one who is a GOP guy but if I named him Clarke would call a liar, guilty of fraud and is a cheat. Is Charlie Rangle a gop? lol
johnclarke on April 08 at 9:04 p.m.
Yeah Dick, that’s pretty much what all conservatives say when they get their asses kicked. “Oh, look, all politicians are corrupt.”
Probably true, but clearly the GOP sucks the most.
DickAdams on April 08 at 9:26 p.m.
Your darn right I`m a independent conservative. I saved when most lived from pay day to pay day. I had friends that didn`t save a red cent and now have big tears. In fact, some with the same income through the years. It takes disciplines. I enjoyed going out and spending money but there is a time and place. Who the hell do people think is going to take care of them. If they think Social Security is all they need to retire, they better read up on what was promised. Thank gosh I don`t collect SS. What ever I paid into my SS account was given to the social security interchange fund. That`s OK with me. I think for my retirement income I`m over taxed. I`ve donated my fair share through the years. Enough is enough.
greenlibertarian on April 09 at 12:37 a.m.
hawken on April 08 at 5:27 p.m.
Andrew5
Our founding fathers banked on two opposing parties.
By design. It’s called “check and balance.”
Look at the calamity we’re suffering from when the Democrats controlled the house, senate and presidency for the last two, calendar years.
We desperately need more conservative, Tea Party, Republicans, for the check and balance to work. I look forward to November 2012
Complete and utter ignorance. The Founders DID NOT contemplate or want to promote the two-party system, in fact it was one of their biggest fears, and something that did not get addressed in the grand compromise, The Constitution.
misjustice on April 09 at 6:45 a.m.
Hawken sqawks, “Look at the calamity we’re suffering from when the Democrats controlled the house, senate and presidency for the last two, calendar years.”
Well, it’s nothing compared to the calamity we are still enduring from the 6 years of total Republican’t control; unfunded federal mandates like No Child Left and Medicare Part D, two wars left off the budget, tax give aways to the top 2%, and a tanked economy.
Bbbbut, bbbbut Obama!
Just sayin’.
; )
johnclarke on April 09 at 7:24 a.m.
You’ll get no argument from me Dick, as I am independent as well. The middle class HAS been taxed to death, time to change that.
40% of all people collecting Social Security count on it to stay out of poverty Dick.
Anyway, the topic is the budget, not SS. Until taxes are raised back to where they started, we will have this problem.