Tag: government shut down

The strangest thing about the government shutdown/debt ceiling fights - which are really the same fight, separated only by dates on the calendar -- is that they are about nothing.

U.S. Senator Mark Udall Thursday night issued a statement saying Congress needs to pass a budget and keep the government running. He accused Republicans in the House of playing politics by using climate change and abortion to score political points.

It looks increasingly as though the Tea Party wing of the Congressional Republican caucus is winning the battle within the caucus on whether or not to avoid budget compromise with Democrats and shut down the government Friday. Republicans cheered the prospect of a shut down behind closed doors this week and some of them have been openly stumping with shut-down rhetoric in their districts. Should it happen, the reality of severely reduced government operations and spending will arrive with a jolt Saturday morning. The Washington Post offers bloggy details.

Senator Mark Udall today sent House Speaker John Boehner a letter urging him to allow the government to be shut down. In addition to Udall, 15 other senators--including Michael Bennet--signed the letter.

On Tuesday morning, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) rolled out the House GOP’s “budget blueprint” for 2012. Meanwhile, the White House and the GOP-controlled House still have not reached an agreement on how to to continue funding the government through the end of the current fiscal year, which ends in September.