President Obama blamed an imminent government shutdown on House
Republicans on Monday and said his health care plan is "moving forward"
despite GOP efforts to defund it.
"You don't get to extract a
ransom for doing your job, for doing what you're supposed to be doing
anyway ... just because there's a law there that you don't like," Obama
said in the White House briefing room.
Late Monday, Obama spoke by
phone with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other top lawmakers,
but there did not appear to be a breakthrough in the impasse that would
trigger a shutdown.
Congress has two responsibilities, Obama told
reporters: passing budgets and — in a reference to the upcoming battle
over the debt ceiling — paying the government's bills. The Republicans
are shirking both, he said.
Obama said a partial government
shutdown — which would start at midnight unless there is an 11th-hour
deal — will damage economic recovery and hurt "real people right away."
He said, "It will throw a wrench into the gears of our economy at a time
when those gears have gained some traction."
The lack of a
spending plan will close federal offices, close parks, damage loan
programs and delay services for senior citizens, businesspeople and
veterans, Obama said.
Social Security, Medicare, mail, national
security and public safety functions will continue despite the shutdown,
the president said before holding a Cabinet meeting to discuss the
likely shutdown.
"The federal government is America's largest employer," Obama said. "These Americans are our neighbors."
Accusing
the Republicans of trying to refight last year's election and the
health care battles of 2009-10, Obama called delay and defunding efforts
"the height of irresponsibility."
Obama noted that health care
exchanges — a key part of the law — will open Tuesday, "no matter what
Congress decides to do today. The Affordable Care Act is moving forward.
That funding is already in place. You can't shut it down."
If
Congress and the White House do not agree on a temporary spending plan,
major parts of the government will shut down when the fiscal year
expires at midnight.
House Republicans passed a plan over the
weekend that would delay the Obama health care plan for a year. Obama
and members of the Democratic-run Senate say that is unacceptable.
Boehner,
the top Republican in the House, said the Obama administration provided
a one-year delay of the heath care law's provision that businesses
cover their employees and has offered other exceptions.
In calling for a one-year delay of the entire law, Boehner said, "We believe that everyone should be treated fairly."
In
both a brief statement and an interview with NPR News, Obama said
Congress passed the health care law, and he is not going to delay in the
face of Republican threats to block the budget.
"There are
millions of Americans right now who do not have health insurance," Obama
said. "And they are finally, after decades, going to be in a position
where they can get affordable health care, just like everybody else."
Asked
what he might "offer" Republicans to resolve the impasse, Obama said,
"I shouldn't have to offer anything. They're not doing me a favor by
paying for things that they have already approved for the government to
do."
Earlier in the day, Obama said he was "not at all resigned"
to the possibility that lawmakers would fail to meet a midnight
deadline. The president said he would talk to congressional leaders on
Monday and in the days ahead.
Late Monday, Boehner spokesman
Brendan Buck tweeted that Obama called the GOP leader. Said Buck: "The
speaker told the president that Obamacare is costing jobs and that
American families are being denied basic fairness when big businesses
are getting exemptions that they are not. The call lasted nearly ten
minutes."
The White House said Obama also spoke with House
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as well as Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell,
R-Ky.
"The President made clear that Congress has two jobs to do:
pay the bills on time and pass a budget on time," said a White House
statement. "Failure to fulfill those responsibilities is harmful to our
economy, small businesses and middle class families across the country."
Earlier
in the day, after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, Obama said that "there's a pretty straightforward solution to
this. If you set aside the short-term politics and you look at the long
term here, what it simply requires is everybody to act responsibly and
do what's right for the American people."
The president proposed
that House Republicans pass a Senate-cleared temporary spending bill
with no conditions and that the parties negotiate long-term budget
issues — including an increase in the debt ceiling, which the government
expects to hit Oct. 17.
Obama did not specify whether he would meet with lawmakers in person Monday or speak to them over the phone.
Beyond
the budget dispute is the $16.7 trillion debt ceiling. Obama said that
without an increase, the government faces the prospect of a first-ever
default on its bills.
Obama said lawmakers should "sit down in
good faith without threatening to harm women and veterans and children
with a government shutdown, and certainly we can't have any kind of
meaningful negotiations under the cloud of potential default."
Join The Patriot Guard