Discussions are continuing behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, but at this point, it appears that no deal will be reached before midnight tonight.
The latest from Speaker Boehner is this:
“We just met with all of our Members to try to bring them as up to speed as we can, considering that we’re still in discussions. And I might add that these discussions continue to be respectful, we continue to work together. Most of the policy issues have been dealt with and the big fight is over the spending. You’ve heard me say time and time again that we’ve got to cut spending if we’re serious about creating an environment for job creators in America to do what they do best – and that’s to create jobs.”
“It’s been a difficult several weeks. Our intention has been to keep the government open. We have no interest in shutting down the government. That’s why we sent the troop funding bill over to the Senate yesterday and attached to it was a seven day agreement to keep the government open while continuing to cut spending. And I’m hopeful the Senate will take this up.
“I’m also hopeful that we’ll be able to come to some agreement. But we’re not going to roll over and sell out the American people like it’s been done time and time again here in Washington. When we say we’re serious about cutting spending, we’re damn serious about it.”
Harry Reid is claiming that he and Senate Democrats are agreeing with the proposed cuts, but are not siding with the policy riders that include defunding Planned Parenthood. On the other hand, Speaker Boehner is saying that Harry Reid and Senate Democrats are disagreeing on the spending cuts.
It looks like no one can agree on what they are disagreeing about, but nonetheless, it is probably safe to say that the Senate Democrats don’t want to cut government spending.
It would not be surprising if they strike a last-minute deal and keep the government open–imagine the drama of the announcement that they will make at 11:59 pm when they announce they saved the world from the impending doom of a government “shutdown”…
