A lot of activity last night and this morning and continuing
through the day….things are changing every hour.
In a nutshell here is the latest….but please keep in mind that
this could change in a moment….
The LATEST - The House and
Senate are engaging in dual-track negotiations today in search of a
debt-ceiling deal. In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican
Senators appeared close to a deal that would extend the debt ceiling for
several months, as well as reopen the government with funding to last through
the year's end.
But those talks have come to a halt —possibly temporary—after
details leaked about a separate proposal from House Republicans, which would
raise the debt ceiling but again included provisions modifying Obamacare.
Now, progress is shaky in the Senate, and the House plan is
under siege: Reid declared it a nonstarter in the Senate, and there are
questions about whether it could pass the House, as a number of the most
conservative Republicans say Speaker John Boehner is giving away too much.
(Background- House Republican leaders announced earlier
today that they would propose their own plan to reopen the government and
extend the debt ceiling, rather than vote on a Senate proposal
negotiated by Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell.
Like the emerging Senate proposal, the House Republican proposal
was expected to fund the government until January 15 and extend the debt
ceiling until February 7. However, the House Republican proposal is
expected to make more changes to the Affordable Care Act than the Senate
proposal, such as delaying the medical device tax. Sen. McConnell was scheduled
to present the Reid-McConnell proposal to Senate Republicans this morning, but
held off after House Republican leaders announced they would propose their own
plan.
House Republican leaders were floating yet another plan to
reopen the government and avert default.
According to Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the latest plan would
drop a demand to delay the medical device tax in Obamacare and drop a demand
for income verification under Obamacare. Instead, Republicans would target the
health benefits of both lawmakers and congressional staff, as well as political
appointees.
This iteration of the plan would keep the government running
until Dec. 15, instead of Jan. 15.
The latest changes came after the plan presented this morning by
Speaker John A. Boehner was panned by many Republicans in his conference.
Republican leadership met in Boehner’s office Tuesday afternoon
to discuss next steps, and a House GOP aide said that closed-door discussions
were currently focused on two areas that could make the fiscal package more
palatable to the rank and file — the so-called Vitter language targeting health
benefits and changing the date on the CR.
The House Democratic leadership is at the White House now to
discuss developments with the President.
Last night a “secret” meeting was held at a nearby neighborhood
restaurant (named Tortilla Coast) led
by Sen. Ted Cruz. A number of conservative lawmakers confirmed they
participated in the meeting but they declined to offer details.
This group is now called the “Tortilla Coast Republicans” and have been
opposed to a “clean” Continuing Resolution.
Some numbers for you --
15: Number of days of the government shutdown
17: Number of years since the last government shutdown$1.4 billion: The cost of the 1995-96 government shutdown
$55 billion: Estimated cost to the economy of a 3-4 week shutdown, according to Moody’s Analytics
1.4 percentage points: Amount fourth quarter GDP could be reduced if government remains shut down for three or four weeks, according to Moody’s economist Mark Zandi
500,000: Estimated number of federal employees not working due to the government shutdown
$160 million: Cost to the economy per weekday from furloughed workers, according to HIS Inc.
More to come...
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