According to Aljazeera America, September 28, 2013, both sides of the aisle in the fight over the debt ceiling and the future of Obamacare, have reason to want the federal government to prevail without a shutdown on Tuesday, October 1, 2013.
First, President Obama, as the leader of the nation, does not want a government shutdown; although he has promised to veto any budget bill that comes to him that does not fund Obamacare. Press Secretary Jay Carney reiterated this White House position with this comment:
Any member of the Republican Party who votes for this bill is voting for a shutdown. It's time for the House to listen to the American people and act, as the Senate has, in a reasonable way to pass a bill that keeps the government running and move on."
And so it is evident that although President Obama and the Administration do not want a government shutdown, that the President is sticking to his guns and will not sign a bill that does not include Obamacare even if it means shutting down the government. The fact that the President is so adamant about this makes it less likely that a bill that does not include at least some funding for Obamacare will be sent to the White House.
Secondly, Senate Democrats, under the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) also are being equally adamant about not being willing to vote for a bill that does not fund Obamacare. Reid's statements were made in response to Republican efforts to fund the federal government through December 15th with only limited funding of Obamacare. Reid stated:
Today's vote by House Republicans is pointless. As I have said repeatedly, the Senate will reject any Republican attempt to force changes to the Affordable Care Act through a mandatory government funding bill or the debt ceiling."
Thirdly, there is hope that the federal shutdown will not take place because Congressman Darrell Issa, (R-CA) bluntly told a reporter that it is erroneous to assume that efforts to resolve the budget crisis will result in failure. Issa stated:
How dare you presume a failure. We continue to believe there’s an opportunity for sensible compromise, and I will not accept from anybody the assumption of failure.”
Issa's statement signals that perhaps some Republicans are willing to compromise and that perhaps some sort of agreement can be hammered out by the deadline of midnight Monday.
Fourth, the simple fact that hundreds of thousands of federal government employees would be laid off in the event of a shutdown makes it less likely that it will happen. Just the Defense Department alone would have to send over 400,000 workers home Tuesday morning if a compromise is not reached in time. This serves as a powerful incentive to leaders on both sides of the aisle to reach an agreement.
We will see what happens in the next 24 to 36 hours. At least while we await the outcome we can hold out just a stringent of hope that some sort of compromise will be ironed out and that the much feared government shutdown will be averted.
