Reid: Democrats will not ‘cave’ a government shutdown is possible

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in a press briefing today said "I’m not confident a government shutdown can be avoided”. Current government funding expires September 30, 2011 at midnight. The new fiscal year begins October 1, 2011.

"If they want to stay into next week, that's fine, we can do that...we can work all next week. The government doesn't shut down until I think it's a week from Saturday," Reid told reporters at his weekly Capitol briefing. "Senator McConnell said there will be no shutdown. I'm not that sure. I'm not that sure. Because the Tea Party-driven House of Representatives has been so unreasonable in the past I don't know why they should suddenly be reasonable."

A stop-gap bill to fund the Government until Nov. 18, 2011 is now needed because Congress has not passed any of the 12 regular spending bills, they’re too busy arguing and playing politics with one another.

And the hold up on the stop-gap bill is the relief funding for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). The House republicans support a package of $3.65 billion in emergency relief .The Senate voted last week and passed a $6.9 billion package with no off setting budget cuts. The Senate vote included 10 republicans.

FEMA helps States that have been struck by natural disasters, such as fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, and earthquakes. FEMA has been kept very busy this year with parts of 48 States already being declared disaster areas. So they need additional funding.

Republicans have held our economy and Americans hostage on several occasions over the last two years, most recently republicans were willing to allow the United States to default on its obligations by not allowing the debt ceiling to be raised unless republicans were allowed too cut spending on programs that help millions of seniors, children and students, as well as cuts to programs that help the middle class. That particular republican hostage taking cause the United States credit worthiness to be downgraded by Standard and Poor’s for the first time in our history.

In Senator Reid’s briefing he also said, "We're not going to cave in on this ,it's a matter of principle."

It appears that we will all find out together soon enough.







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