House Sets Stage For Government Shutdown

The House of Representatives is poised to approve a bill that would provide short-term funding for the government through December 15th and delay the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act because, y’know, people with pre-existing conditions don’t deserve insurance and Obama’s in the White House.

[The] politically risky proposal… unites the Republican conference but could bring the government within reach of a shutdown.

The plan, which also includes an amendment to repeal the medical device tax and a separate provision to pay military members in the event of a shutdown, also puts the ball quickly back into the Senate’s court.

“They might have to come back from their vacation,” said Rep. Tom Graves of Georgia, who has led the charge for a delay of Obamacare. “Harry Reid has to now decide if he’s going to continue forcing this bad law on the American people.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, though, dismissed the House’s plan outright. The Senate will reject the delay of the Affordable Care Act as well as the medical device tax, which Reid last week called “stupid.”

“Today’s vote by House Republicans is pointless,” Reid said in a statement. “Republicans must decide whether to pass the Senate’s clean CR, or force a Republican government shutdown.”

To avoid a partial government shutdown, both chambers of Congress must reach an agreement by Tuesday, the start of the new fiscal year.

By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.