Government shutdown - Day 8 - update as of 10pm 10/8

Senate Democrats are proposing to suspend the federal debt limit until the end of 2014, Finance Chairman Max Baucus explained Tuesday.

Majority Leader Reid and Baucus are introducing legislation that suspends the debt limit, avoiding default. The bill mirrors legislation passed earlier this year and will suspend the debt limit until Dec. 31, 2014, after the mid-term elections.  The Senator stated that “On Jan. 1, 2015, a new debt limit is set which reflects whatever borrowing is done between passage of the bill and Dec. 31, 2014.”

The Senate’s expected to take a first procedural vote on the “clean” measure by week’s end.

 

And on the House side ----Speaker John Boehner rejected President Obama’s offer to negotiate a long-term fiscal deal in exchange for temporary measures to end the government shutdown and lift the debt ceiling.

 

The President said that if House Republicans re-opened the government and lifted the nation’s borrowing authority — even for a few months — he would enter into wide-ranging talks that could include the ACA and issues related to the debt.

Speaker Boehner opposed this plan.

 

The House voted to reopen the Head Start program in its 10th piecemeal funding measure, a strategy that the White House and Senate Democrats have rejected.

House Republicans moved forward on a separate package to pay federal employees deemed “essential” while forming a special, bicameral committee of 20 to hash out a long-term deficit-reduction plan that would include a budget and an increase in the debt ceiling.

 

The plan was announced to Republicans during a closed-door conference meeting Tuesday morning, and the Republican leadership brought it quickly to the floor for an evening vote.

The Republican plan would not include a timetable for striking an agreement, nor would it have triggered policy changes if a deal failed to materialize.

The White House issued a formal veto threat for the legislation late Tuesday afternoon.

 

 

During a shutdown, you CANNOT –   Get a new small business loan: Existing loans would be honored, but new applications would not be accepted. Go to the Smithsonian or National Zoo: About 90 percent of the museums' 6,400 workers will be furloughed, with all museums and the zoo to be closed. The animals will still get fed, but visitors won't be around to see that. Camp in a national park: All national parks -- from Yosemite to Acadia -- will close, and day visitors will have to leave immediately. (But longer-term campers already in parks will have two days to leave.) Visit a Civil War battlefield: Like national parks, historic battlefields will be closed. Visit the Capitol: While the Capitol will remain open for congressional matters, it will be closed to visitors. Check the legal work status of an employee: The E-Verify system allows employers across the country to check on immigration status, but it's a federal website, which means it would be shut down. Continue to be audited: The IRS will suspend audit activities. (They will begin again as soon as the government shutdown is over.)