Exactly 12 hours after the government shutdown began, the eight House Republicans appointed to serve on a continuing resolution conference committee staged a photo-op. Facing a crowd of reporters and flashing cameras, the gentlemen sat on one side of a long conference table in the speaker's suite of offices, all in their shirtsleeves to visually signal their readiness to get to work and reopen the government — and to try to point out that Democrats were not there to join them. "As you see, there's no one here on the other side of the table," said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va. "All of us are here, sitting at a table, waiting for the Senate Democrats to join us so we can resolve our differences." After three unsuccessful attempts to force the Senate to accept a short-term spending bill that contained different riders aimed at undermining Obamacare, the House, in the early morning hours of Tuesday, sent the other chamber a motion to go to conference — along with a CR that would delay the individual mandate's implementation for one year and eliminate health care subsidies for those serving in the legislative and executive branches. The Senate packed up and left after the stroke of midnight on Tuesday before the House had even voted on that measure. Senators came back at 9:30 a.m. and swiftly voted to table it, with Democrats saying there was nothing to negotiate. Senate Democratic leaders have said they will accept nothing more than a rider-free CR to resume government funding. (more…)
