As Democrats and Republicans worked frantically around the clock on Friday, hope began to fade that a government shutdown could be averted this week-end.
Throughout the day, both sides stood before TV cameras to explain their positions, each side blaming the other for the inability to reach a budget agreement.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that an agreement had been reached with House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday night and that essentially $38 billion in cuts from current spending had been settled on. Reid added that, while environment policy provisions had been agreed, Republicans were sticking to their guns in wanting to scrap federal funding for Planned Parenthood and other providers of health services to poor women.
“This is indefensible, and everyone should be outraged,” Mr. Reid said on the Senate floor. “The Republican House leadership have only a couple of hours to look in the mirror, snap out of it and realize how truly shameful they have been.”
While Reid characterized the breakdown in a failure to reach agreement with Republicans as solely that of funding for Planned Parenthood and other health care providers, House Speaker told his own reports that the issue was one of spending cuts.
“Only one reason we do not have an agreement yet, and that is spending, Boehner said. “When will the White House and when will Senate Democrats get serious about cutting spending?”
Meanwhile, on Friday evening, conservative Republicans were urging Boehner to cut a deal with the Democrats before a shutdown occurs.
Rep. Michele Backmann (R-Minnesota), the founder of the Tea Party caucus in the House, tweeted, “I am ready for a big fight that will change the arc of history. The current fight in Washington is not that fight,” reports newyorktimes.com.
As well, the former governor of Arkansas and possible presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, said too, that a shutdown would “hurt the Republicans, not the Democrats.”
At 8:37 pm, on Friday, there were news reports that a deal was close to being reached on a one week temporary extension to keep the federal government open and presumably, continue with the negotiations.
The clock is ticking!
