Boehner: No change in shutdown, no debt vote without health law concessions

Oct 8 2013

The White House hit back on House Speaker Boehner's threats, saying the president is willing to negotiate over the budget but not until the government reopens and Republicans drop the health care fight. Some cracks are appearing in the GOP stance among Tea-Party aligned members.

The New York Times: Boehner Hews To Hard Line In Demanding Concessions From Obama
Speaker John A. Boehner stood his ground on Sunday alongside the most conservative Republicans in Congress, insisting that the House would not vote to finance and reopen the government or raise the nation's borrowing limit without concessions from President Obama on the health care law (Calmes and Peters, 10/6).

The Washington Post: Boehner, White House Harden Stances As Shutdown Continues, Potential Default Nears
As Boehner hardened his stance, the White House did the same, dispatching Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to appear on four of the six major Sunday talk shows. Repeatedly, Lew said Obama is willing to enter negotiations to address the nation's long-term budget problems but not until Republicans drop their campaign against Obama's health-care initiative, end the government shutdown and lift the $16.7 trillion debt limit (Montgomery, 10/6).

The Wall Street Journal: Boehner Ties Deal To Talks On Debt 
The fight to this point has centered on Republican demands to delay or dismantle parts of the 2010 health-care law in exchange for funding the government. Now, by pairing the standoffs over funding the government and raising the debt ceiling, the speaker is trying to force President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) to agree to GOP priorities on deficits and federal spending in return for movement on both (O'Connor and Nicholas, 10/6).

Bloomberg: Some Tea Party-Backed Lawmakers Yield In Obamacare Fight
The first cracks are appearing in the Tea Party's push to dismantle the nation's health law as three House lawmakers with ties to the movement said they'd back a U.S. spending bill that doesn't center on Obamacare.  Republican Representatives Blake Farenthold of Texas, Doug Lamborn of Colorado and Dennis Ross of Florida, all of whom identify with the Tea Party, said they'd back an agreement to end the government shutdown and lift the debt ceiling if it included major revisions to U.S. tax law, significant changes to Medicare and Social Security and other policy shifts (Bender 10/6).

The New York Times: A Federal Budget Crisis Months In The Planning 
Shortly after President Obama started his second term, a loose-knit coalition of conservative activists led by former Attorney General Edwin Meese III gathered in the capital to plot strategy. ... Out of that session, held one morning in a location the members insist on keeping secret, came a little-noticed "blueprint to defunding Obamacare." ... The groups have also sought to pressure vulnerable Republican members of Congress with scorecards keeping track of their health care votes; have burned faux "Obamacare cards" on college campuses; and have distributed scripts for phone calls to Congressional offices (Stolberg and McIntire, 10/5).

Fox News: Boehner Hits White House Over Obamacare Website Repairs
House Speaker John Boehner criticized the Obama administration's plan to disable a key part of its health overhaul website this weekend to resolve glitches that overwhelmed the launch of new health insurance markets. "The news that its enrollment system is already going offline confirms that the launch of the president's health care law has been an unmitigated disaster," Boehner said in a statement Friday (10/5).

Kaiser Health News also tracked additional weekend coverage of the continuing budget impasse on Capitol Hill (10/6).