Politics
Obama: U.S. government shutdown threatening economy
People classified as essential government employees including: air traffic controllers, Border Patrol agents and most food inspectors, will continue to work.
The health-care law itself was unaffected as enrollment opened Tuesday for millions of people shopping for medical insurance.
Unexpectedly high internet traffic volumes to HealthCare.gov – the website serving as the gateway to the new online health insurance marketplace – has registered over one million visits, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The higher than normal volume led to delays, an official said.
The military will be paid under legislation freshly signed by Obama, but paychecks for other federal workers will be withheld until the impasse is broken. Federal workers were told to report to their jobs for a half-day but to perform only shutdown tasks like changing email greetings and closing down agencies’ internet sites.
The self-funded U.S. Postal Service will continue to operate and the government will continue to pay Social Security benefits and Medicare and Medicaid fees to doctors on time.
The Senate twice on Monday rejected House-passed bills that, first, conditioned keeping the government open to delaying key portions of the 2010 “Obamacare” law that take effect Tuesday, and then delayed for a year the law’s requirement that millions of people buy medical insurance. The House passed the last version again early Tuesday; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the same fate awaits it when the Senate reconvenes Tuesday morning.
“You don’t get to extract a ransom for doing your job, for doing what you’re supposed to be doing anyway, or just because there’s a law there that you don’t like,” Obama said Monday, delivering a similar message in private phone calls later to Republican House Speaker John Boehner and other lawmakers.
