WITH LOOMING DEADLINE, HOUSE PASSES NEW MEASURES; SENATE OUT OF SESSION
by Sharon Rondeau
(Sep. 29, 2013) — Following a vote late on Saturday to delay the implementation of the Obamacare individual mandate for a year and guarantee military pay during a probable partial government shutdown, House Republicans spoke from the Capitol steps on Sunday afternoon to call the U.S. Senate back to work.
Following the address to the Senate, freshman Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri tweeted, “I just told Harry Reid on the Senate steps to ‘open those doors’ and get back to work to avoid a government shutdown.” During the presser, she had told the Senate Majority Leader, “Unlock those doors, I say to Harry Reid, and come out.”
Rep. Marsha Blackburn, the author of the bill to delay Obamacare, stood beside Wagner.
Wagner was previously U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg and has said that only Obama could have issued the stand-down order to stop rescue attempts when the U.S. compound was attacked in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012.
Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas decried Obama and Senate Democrats for failing to be “flexible” in order to negotiate an appropriations bill. Obama and Reid stated on Friday that they would not negotiate about any provision of the health care legislation, and Obama wants the debt ceiling raised to “pay the bills.”
An appropriations bill must be passed by both chambers of Congress by midnight on Monday to avoid a government shutdown, which would affect national parks, museums, and other “non-essential” federal employees and departments.
Also on Friday, Obama accused Republicans of trying to “appease the Tea Party” by attempting to stop the implementation of Obamacare, which is costing jobs, causing higher premiums and forcing small businesses to reduce their employees’ hours to avoid the mandate.
According to Chuck Todd of NBC News, Obama is planning on meeting with his cabinet on Monday to discuss the ramifications of a government shutdown.
