House Republicans pushed through the shutdown threat by 231 votes to 192, linking continued government funding to a demand that President Barack Obama delay his plan to extend healthcare insurance to millions of poor Americans by one year.
The vote went through after House Democrats and President Barack Obama refused to accept the Republicans’ conditions to keep the government operating.
Republicans have damned the health care plan, dubbed “Obamacare,” as one based “on a limitless government, bureaucratic arrogance and a disregard of a will of the people”.
Trent Franks, a Republican congressman representing Arizona, said that he often had to choose between “something bad or [something] horrible,'' Bloomberg reported.
The reform was also branded “an attack and an assault on free enterprise and the free economy” by Republican Pete Sessions of Texas.
"To be absolutely clear, the Senate will reject both the one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act and the repeal of the medical device tax," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "After weeks of futile political games from Republicans, we are still at square one."
His objections were supported by House Democrats.
“The Senate has acted in a clear way to keep government open," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi indicated. "Instead, House Republicans are insisting on not one but two proposals to shut down government."
The move threatens to shut down the government on October 1, as midnight Monday (September 30) marks the end of the fiscal year.
The Democrat-controlled Senate will likely vote against the Republicans' measure, however, leaving the way open to a last-minute compromise to avert the shutdown.
Although Republicans have threatened to cut off funding several times during Obama’s time in office, the last government shutdown happened in 1996.
The deal could be to pass a short-term measure – from a few days to a week – to keep government ticking over.
Source: rt.com
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