House GOP Readies Stopgap Budget Bill If Needed To Avoid Government Shutdown

WASHINGTON — Republican officials say GOP lawmakers are ready with another short-term spending bill if needed to avoid a government shutdown threatened for Friday.

These officials say a bill to finance the government for one week will be brought to the House floor if currently deadlocked talks on a longer-term measure fail to yield a compromise.

They add the stopgap bill would include about $12 billion in cuts in domestic programs, and include enough money to finance the Defense Department through the end of the budget year on Sept. 30.

The current talks are hung up on Republican demands for deeper spending cuts than either the Obama administration or Senate Democrats want.

President Barack Obama has invited top lawmakers to the White House for a meeting Tuesday on the issue.

Comments

[Jsoeur]

11:12 PM on 04/05/2011

A shutdown may be our only hope for the rank and file tea-party folks to finally understand how much they are undermining their own interests, and what tools they have been for big corps and religious-right fanatics

[hopeisalive]

08:35 AM on 04/05/2011

If we keep going a week at a time, the 2011 fiscal year will be over before you know it.

[knightoftheroundtable]

11:24 PM on 04/04/2011

I hope seniors like me who depend on Social Security and Medicare who voted retaker are prepared to see an even lower standard of living. If your poor and depend on Medicaid and other programs to help put a little food on your table I hope your prepared to see a decline in your well being also. Yes, many of you voted retaker this last election so I coiuld say I do not feel sorry for anything that befalls you. But that is not the case, I have compassion. I worry about the lowering of standards for my children and grand children. So I ask you to think about the rich who do not pay there fair share who want even more, the rich who the retakers and some dems want to help get it all. Think next time you vote, and understand the retakers are not your friends, their only friends are the rich and mighty. They do not care about anyone else.

[Itaught30yrs]

11:17 PM on 04/04/2011

Keep in mind that this budget is for THIS YEAR! When will the Republican games end?

They pass legislation in the House with massive cuts and throw it to the Senate "daring" them to defeat it. Now we have a new budget cutter scheduled for Tuesday...from Ryan.

Talk about smoke and mirrors...anyone keeping track of all this? Oh, and the government shuts down on FRIDAY!!!

[exile]

10:30 PM on 04/04/2011

wow
many tea baggers who protested recently
with professionally lettered signssaying
"keep your government hands off
my social security
my medicare"
may wake up some day and say...
hey my canidates want to defund medicare, medicaid and my social security
oh
and my free government lunch, food card, and my cost of living increases.
what gives huh

[afterallthat]

09:44 PM on 04/04/2011

Why did the Supreme Court rule that a Corporation has the same rights as an individual? Just wondering.

[KathyinCT]

12:06 AM on 04/05/2011

Right wing Bush appointees.

[Fred Sanders]

09:44 PM on 04/04/2011

So the Defence Department gets extended to September, to give the Tea Party another week to gut NPR and Planned Parenthood? Nice for the Defence Department, and its $700 Billion budget, which dwarfs all else.

The GOP/Tea Party is really showing its darkest colours. America sees now.

[Welib]

10:50 PM on 04/04/2011

That 700 billion only represents the overseas portion of the military budget!  It's over 1.4 trillion!  Gawd, I can't believe these people are getting away with this!  There has to be safe guards put in place in future that makes it a lot easier to get rid of the people that are making a huge mess and hurting everyone from children to seniors, the sick and the most vulnerable! 

These people are not christians, they are hit men for billionaires who will discard them after they've filled their purpose but before they boot them to the curb, they'll loot them for their SS, medicare, medicaid and every other lifeline they can steal!  The right won't get it until those checks stop coming!

[thepheonix]

11:12 PM on 04/04/2011

Even if you took every penny from Defense. You wouldn't solve this deficit problem. Understand that Dim?

[MilesLong]

09:16 PM on 04/04/2011

Republicans, first you get along, then you go along...

Miles "One Leg Of The Budget Tripod" Long

[skipling]

10:51 PM on 04/04/2011

Then the country limps along for more years.