that, but i do know it is possible. we have discussed how much that would cost. it would cost billions of dollars, just the discussion of it. this really should be on off- limits subject. is for debts incurred. a lot of this debt is the bush administration era debt. if they do not want to pay those bills -- this is not about what happens in the future. this is about the bills that have already been incurred. how do you walk away from that? you pay china first, and the rest of you can wait? >> democratic leader nancy pelosi and members of her delegation speaking to the press. chaplain, reverend andrew hoffer o.p., dominican house of studies, washington, d.c. the chaplain: let us pray.

o powerful and merciful god, we ask you to put forth your spirit of blessings upon the world which you have freely made. you nation which trusts in and upon here on capitol hill who turn to you. we have been wrong and we have sinned. give us all a share of your wisdom and your mercy. enlighten us so that we can turn from our error and live by the power of your truth. strengthened by you, may we stand united in necessary matters, acknowledge liberty in doubtful matters and be charitable in all matters. we ask this of you, the source of all unity, liberty and charity to whom be glory and honor now and forever. amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the

last day's proceedings and announces to the house his pproval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. >> pursuant to clause 1, rule 1, i demand a vote on agreeing to the speaker's approval to the journal. the speaker: the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. hultgren: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois. mr. hultgren: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question are postponed. the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from california, mr. swalwell. mr. swalwell: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: the chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each

side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker: without objection. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, the federal government has been shut down for 15 days. for 15 days the president and senate democrats have made very few attempts to work with the house to reopen the government's doors. washington democrats have not been willing to meaningfully negotiate with house republicans who voted four times to avoid the fiscal crisis. time is ticking. the people of south carolina's second congressional district are hurting due to washington democrats' inability to engage in the legislative process. on behalf of the savannah river site employee in akin who is at risk to additional cuts to his hardworking paycheck and the young family in columbia who is being denied health care access which could save their daughter's life, we should reopen government. we support commonsense

proposals that will avoid national default and reopen the government's doors. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pascrell: to address the -- for one minute to request one minute to address the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pascrell: i'm ashamed of the political side show in front of the white house perpetrated by ms. palin and senator cruz and her -- his congressional allies. for members to protest against the consequences of a shutdown, they themselves cause is the height of hypocrisy. the truth is we could pass a clean continuing resolution today and get our government back to work. i was outraged by some of the imagery we saw from the tea partyiers rallying calling for the president's impeachment not

after a year after the election, continued lies about the president's religion, putting one participant saying, quote-unquote, put the koran down. have no place in civil discourse, but i was especially disturbed by the waving of the confed rate flag, a symbol of racial oppression being waved at our first african-american president. i call on my colleagues to condemn this hateful rhetoric, renounce these fringe voices within their coalition. this is a shameful display of members on the other side of the aisle, and they ought to stand up, the majority, to the extremists in their own party as we have with our own party and stop trying to hold the government and full faith and credit of the united states hostage. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> thank you, mr. speaker, i seek unanimous consent to address the house floor for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute.

>> mr. speaker, this shutdown is shining a light and showing the world some of the extreme members of the tea party. mr. swalwell: this weekend, tea party senators ted cruz and mike lee led a rally on the national mall where freedom watch founder larry clayman called on president obama to leave town, put down the koran and come out with your hands up. the rally moved to the white house where tea partyiers waved the con-- partiers waved the confed rate flag in front of his home. it is unnerving, it's despicable and it's not the me flag that we pledge allegiance to. to date, neither senator nor member of the tea party caucus in this house denounced in ugly, disgusting comment toward this president. i respectfully ask my friends across the aisle to do so. we may disagree on many things

hope this chamber, but i this is not acceptable. condemn this behavior. if you don't and you let it go, you are condoning it. out of many one, e pluribus unum. let's denounce this. let's come together. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition -- the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i'd like to ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. day number 15 of a government shutdown and we're less than 48 hours away from defaulting on our bills. we've never done that in the history of the united states of america. mr. speaker, we don't pay our bills, that will be reckless behavior and that will be irresponsible. it seemed like both the house and senate have agreed to open up government until january 15. let's make that happen.

second, it seems like both the house and the senate agree to lift the debt ceiling until february 7. let's make that happen. but let's do step number three which says let's set a budget process in place that negotiates a budget, that starts to deal with our debt and deficit so we can get out of this crisis mode and start getting about the business of re-creating jobs. mr. speaker, now is the time for leadership. mr. speaker, we're close. let's get this done for the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for ne minute. s. jackson lee: mr. speaker, abraham lincoln offered these words, "the rule of a minority

as a permanent arrangement is wholly inadmirable so that rejecting the minority principle, anarchy in some form is all that is left. i think we have come to the point to recognize that it is important to represent the majority of americans, the majority of veterans who in some short order may be questioning whether or not their veterans' or disability checks or their family's s.s.i. or their mother's social security will come at an appropriate time. the secretary of the veterans administration already said that he's had to discontinue overtime, slowing our review of benefit claims. this is a delay of 1,400 veterans a day. i say to my colleagues, rather than coddling those who wish to wave a confed rate flag in front of the white house, let us respect veterans whose lives

are in cemeteries or whose lives have been recognized by being buried in america's cemeteries. let us stop the foolishness and put on the floor of the house the reasonable response to opening the government now so that men who are mourning those who are waving the truly american flag are respected, not those in front of the white house. open the government now. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is not recognized. ms. jackson lee: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. members are reminded to heed the gavel. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? mr. mica: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. mr. mica: thank you, mr. speaker. and here we are, folks, my colleagues, fellow americans, just a few days the united states may not be able to pay its debts.

that would be horrible for the country and for leadership as we know it. how did we get here? the other side -- and you'll hear from them -- you're hearing from them -- took control of the place. in four years the spending went uncheck. the debt rose from $9 billion to now $17 trillion. they're asking for another $1 trillion to continue the spending unchecked, to continue the indebtedness. we can and we should come together to resolve this, but at some point you have to be responsible as a parent, as a member of congress, as citizens to hold the line, stop the spending, put a check on indebtedness of the future. barack obama voted against raising the debt limit when he was a senator and said that not

addressing the debt was a lack of leadership. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, the deadline for preventing the united states from defaulting on our debt is growing closer and the need to act more critical. mr. higgins: the truth is, mr. speaker, we don't know the full extent to the damage our nation's economy would suffer. but here's what we do know. default would mean higher interest rates for over 278,000 new yorkers with mortgages, loss of disability benefits for over 100,000 new york veterans and the threat of being unable to pay social security and medicare drug reimbursements to over 3,000 new yorkers. mr. speaker, the argument by some in this chamber that defaulting on our debt wouldn't be a big deal is outrageous. putting the full faith and credit of our nation, not to mention the strength of the world economy, on the line

simply to prove a political point is both reckless and irresponsible. this house must put the best interests of the american people first and avert this disaster so we can get back to rebuilding to economy and nation building right here at home. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. mr. payne: mr. speaker, this madness has got to stop. yesterday, i heard from a local homeless shelter in ifferington, new jersey, that's struggling to provide for the overwhelming amount of homeless new mothers. these are new mothers who can't feed their babies now that their w.i.c. benefits have been cut off. because of the government shutdown, homeless shelters across new jersey are running low on baby formula, diapers and the food they need to feed these mothers and their newborn

babies. this kind of story is shameful and it's happening all over new jersey. the pain i see in my district is very real and it could get a whole lot worse. if we choose not to pay our bills on time, 1 1/2 million people in new jersey may not get their social security checks, 50,000 disabled veterans in new jersey may not get their medical bills paid, congress has two simple jobs right now. one, to open the government. and two, to pay our bills on time. these are nonnegotiateable. the republican tea party shouldn't hold this country hostage. let's get to fixing america's problems again instead of creating them. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for one minute. ms. in a loney: mr. speaker, it's uncomprehensible to reasonable men and women everywhere that our colleagues

across the aisle will nuke the american economy by refusing to raise the debt ceiling unless their demands are met. mrs. maloney: nuke is the right word to use here, as warren buffett noted recently, even the threat of a default should liken to nuclear weapons to terrible -- too terrible to ever use. allowing the u.s. to default on its obligations, whether it be an interest payment on a treasury bond, a check due a social security recipient or money due to a federal contractor so they can pay their workers would have a cataclysmic affect on our economy and would be felt around the world it would be a mistake that would improfferish a generation and haunt us -- impoverih a generation and haunt us for decades. and anyone who dismisses how great a disaster, a default would be should not be taken seriously. they should not be given --

listen to or given a seat at the table where responsible decisions are made. let's open up the government now. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time as ex-peered. for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from maryland is recognized for one minute. >> america has a spending problem that much is clear. our national debt stands at nearly $17 trillion. mr. harry: -- mr. harris: $17 trillion. let that thought sink in. is that what we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren? the government is going to collect more revenue this year than it's ever taken in before. how much sense does that make? what's being done to address

the real driver of our debt, runaway government spending? house republicans want government refrm, we want everyone treated fairly under obamacare new york special treatment especially for big corp. reagses or members of congress. it's time to act, it's time for real solutions. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. johnson: as a seepor texan on the commr transportation and infrastructure, i'm concerned about the transportation issues created by the republican government shutdown. for example, aviation safety is in peril as the federal aviation administration has furloughed 780 safety inspectors and drastically

limited aircraft maintenance. these type of safety risks created by the republican government shutdown are intolerable. further, the national transportation safety board has been forced to furlough more than 90% of the staff. as a result, it has not been able to continue investigating deadly transportation incidents nor initiate new investigations of accidents that have occurred sense the republican government shutdown began. mr. speaker, the political games being play by the republican leadership are causing serious harm to transportation safety for all americans and it is totally unacceptable. we do have a spending problem created by the two republican wars. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker.

over the weekend, many of us were still stuck in washington waiting for a resolution but one highlight of that was an opportunity to be be our veterans as we helped them gain entrance to their national monuments, their memorials, here in washington, d.c. and it's just sad that they even have to wonder if they're breaking the law or if they need assistance to get into open air monuments, open air memorialsing that are there. mr. lamalfa: seems from the rhetoric on the floor that that could be impugned to one guy bringing a flag they don't like. why don't we talk about the veterans and the meanness of the park service arbitraryly making barriers to shut them out this shutdown is made much worse by the attitude of those in the white house with exerting pain on people for shutting down things they do care about in order to play this political game. this isn't a republican house

shutdown, this is a u.s. senate shutdown. as we have said time after time, bill after bill over there. let's get together and get this done right for the people of california, including the students i met with from the middle school with us here today. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. mr. speaker, it pains me to see the shutdown's impact on everyday lives. i was ordering coffee the other day, i asked the hardworking woman behind the counter how she was doing that day. mrs. davis: she confided she was up all night taking care of her son's stomach problems. she wanted to by the -- to buy the lactaid milk that settles her son's stomach down but buzz hofe shutdown, the w.i.c.

office was closed and she didn't have money for it until payday that was a long way away. the media may be foe cutsing on this erancor and the talking point bus this shutdown is about a little boy with stomach pains and a mother who cannot afford to give him relief. the women, infant and children program help lose income mother buy formula and other healthy foods and it's one of our most successful programs. let us end this shutdown right new, let us vote on a clean bill to fund the whole government, let us restore vital programs like w.i.c. and let us stop this lunacy and get back to work for the american people. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from ohio seek recognition? the gentlewoman from ohio is recognized for one minute. ms. kaptur: the republican shutdown of government and their moves to not pay our debt is like forceing medicine on a

sec patient, you may -- forcing bad medicine on someone, you may force them to take it but it may dill kill them. where does the $17 trillion deficit come from? ell the recession cost trillions in wealth and millions of job. under president obama we had 7.5 million job crease ated unlike the bush years when there wasn't a single job cree eated. in the last 12 month the country lost 4.6 million jobs. america has accumulated an 8.4 -- an $8.4 trillion deficit since 1975 and racked up $4 trillion in unpaid for war spending. what's the republican idea? shut down the government, don't

pay the bills. we need to restore regular order, move bills to create jobs and keep america's promises to our debtors. let's nurse our nation back to health. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to heed the gavel. the gentlewoman's time has expire. members are remined to please heed the gavel. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one hin. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. it is time for us to come together. this reckless government shutdown must end. some arizonans and americans across the country are hurting and our economy has been seriously harmed. mr. barber: the senate is working on a bipartisan solution to reopen the government and avoid putting america into default. i'm hopeful we can find a reasonable and responsible plan and immediately bring it to the house floor for a vote.

mr. speaker, we must end this blame game. we must put the american people first. let us come together and act responsibly now. let this government shutdown end, let us assure we pay our bills noim american people are calling us to act and act now. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. mr. johnson: thank you. mr. speaker, republicans have threatened america's future by allowing the nation, already in a republican shutdown, to default on its debt unless the congress votes to stop obamacare. the government has been shut down for two weeks and the united states will default on its debt in two days.

all respected economists say a default means devastating and definitely unnecessary damage to our economy and to the global marketplace. yet republicans radically and irresponsibly push us toward the precipice of default. there's disconnect from financial cre re-ality is certainly breathtaking. their actions are reckless, radical and irresponsible. mr. speaker, there is pow for the numbers. if reasonable republicans would stand up to their radical right wing, we can end this shutdown and avoid a default today. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expire. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? without objection, the the gentleman from illinois is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. a recent letter i received. mr. shimkus: i am writing this

let for the regards to new affordable health care. my husband and i are small business owners with two other employees. we purchase insurance as vedge insurance and received a let they are past week that our rates are changing. we currently have a $5,000 deduct wble a monthly premium on $1,450. on the new plan it will be a $4,000 deductible with a monthly premium of $1,093.78. i have tried to access www.healthcare.gov website, have been able to register an account but not able to get any type of pricing. i was cacked both my illinois senators and house of representatives and been told they are not in favor of a government shutdown but i'm here to say if shutdown is what it takes to get people to listen, then shut down. the reason that i'm contacting you is because my congressmen are not willing to stand up to the president and i just want to say good job for standing your ground. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman frl arizona rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my rorks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized. >> as we enter this third week of reckless, irresponsible shutdown, it's no wonder folk in my district and across the nation are disgusted. they see washington treating this as a political game. i've got news for them. how far will the house majority push our nation just to score political points? no one wins, everybody loses and here's what an editorial in the arizona republic says today about this shutdown. mrs. kirkpatrick: when it's all other the huge costs will be tall lid and the hard work congress has avoided will remain undone. america will join the world in wondering, is that all there is? the only heroes in this tragedy are the americans who still

believe their government can eventually do the right thing. mr. speaker, let's show the american people that this house is still capable of doing the right thing. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from nevada seek recognition? i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from nevada is recognized for one minute. ms. titus: 15 days ago, an extreme faction of the republican party, supported by its leader and aloud by its more complacent members brought about a shutdown of the entire government. it has since brought us to the brink of an unprecedented default and now it refuses to open up a compromise that will open up the government, put people back to work and lift the debt ceiling is so the united states can pay its bills. americans are fed up with the political obstructionism and

dysfunction that have caused this unnecessary crisis. with the clock running out, we cannot afford to waste any more time. we need to act now. so i say to my colleagues across the aisle, stop your guerrilla tactics, stop playing games with the good faith and credit of the united states, stop putting radical ideology ahead of the welfare of the american people and stop sabotaging our economy and our democracy. we've got to bring common sense, integrity and honor back to the house of representatives and to what's in the best interest of this great country. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. ms. hahn: today marks the 15th day of the government shutdown. i'm encouraged that we're seeing bipartisan agreement in the senate that will reopen the

government and avert a credit default. a lot of bashing of both sides going on down here but i want to take the time to applaud our leaders in the united states senate, harry reid and mitch mcconnel, for their coming together to turn this ship around for the american people. and mr. speaker, i also wanted to give a shout out to senator collins and senator mansion for breaking the logjam this past friday, the shutdown became a harsh reality for many american families as tens of thousands of workers did not receive a paycheck. these are hardships everyday working families can't afford. this shutdown is deeply unfair to the american people. the clock is tick bug we're seing the framework, finally, of a commonsense solution to put an end to this recklessness and irresponsibility of the shutdown. i hope that this house has an opportunity to vote on the senate proposal soon and put this whole mess behind us for the sake of the country and the american people. i wreeled back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired

8 pursuant to clause 12a of rule 1, the house will stand in

> how is everyone today? are we ready? i'm pleased to be joined by the vice chairman of the democratic caucus in the house, the gentleman from new york, joe crowley. i'm javier becerra, the chairman of the democratic caucus from california. we had a pretty thorough discussion right now in our democratic caucus meeting. once again, extremely well attended, where we went through where we stand today and while we know that there have been substantial conversations in the senate, it appears that once again our house republican colleagues are prepared to put the american economy at risk to advance their political agenda. they seem to be running contrary toer that republican colleagues in the senate, they seem to be running contrary to the desires of the american people, and they seem to be

running contrary to a good number of their own colleagues in the house of representatives who have said to their republican leadership, let us not jeopardize the american economy, let's not hurt it, let's not hurt further american families who have been put out of work as a result of the republican government shutdown. and so i think most of us are here to say, let us vote, let us exercise our right as representatives for the people to vote to reopen our government and to not put our american economy at risk through the -- for the first time ever, the default in payment of our past obligations. this reckless approach that house republicans seem determined to take is putting any number of american families in jeopardy. i think it's been made very

clear over the course of the last several weeks by economists, by republican leaders, by regular families, not on wall street but on main street, that to allow interest dramatically simply to fulfill a political agenda would not only harm the economic recovery that we've seen, where in the last three and a half years more than 7.5 million jobs have been created but it would put at risk the family that just sent a child to school. paid for that education with student loans. payment of at risk social security benefits for those who are now retired and earned those benefits. and i wanted to bring this -- this is 18 years old.

this is a savings bond. it's a savings bond that my daughter olivia received when she was born. it was a gift for her, she has not yet cashed it in, and it's a $50 savings bond. this is similar to what social security recipients have in the social security trust fund. which allows them to get their payments. this is what a lot of americans they have mutual funds and other accounts where part of the investment is in bonds this $50 ceyings bond is being put at risk. by the irresponsible and reckless behavior of our house republican colleagues who are prepared to disregard what seems to be a reasonable approach being taken by the senate to try to resolve this issue so we don't, for the first time in our history, have a default on the payment of our

debts and lead to perhaps a risky next several days which we've never experienced for the american economy. and so we would urge our republican colleagues in the house, please end your family feuding among republicans. please let us vote on a clean bill to reopen our government and to pay our past bills. let's remember not just the folks on wall street, let's think of all the folks on main street who depend on these savings bond, let's put our country before our party and let us move forward together. there are commonsense solutions that we can all work on and if we act reasonably we can get this done. be no one should put their reckless spending before the american economy. now let me yield to my

colleague, chairman of the democratic caucus. >> it's rarblingable that we of today on the cusp defailting on the u.s.'s debts a number of words come to mind when analyzing the most recent republican legislation. irresponsible is one word. reckless is another. in an attempt to torpedo what appears to be a reasonable solution or response being worked out by republicans and democrats in the senate, i have said before and i'll say it again, the american people expect their congress produce a budget and to pay the u.s.'s bills on time. we are still -- we still have a government that's shut down, we're on the cusp of reneging on the latter. that is unacceptable to the

american people and to the world at this point. damage has already been done to the reputation of the u.s. in terms of our abilities to pay our debts. we cannot let down the american people, we cannot let down -- the republican congress cannot let down the world at this point. there's a great deal on the shoulders. but it's time for reasonable men and women on the republican side of the aisle in the house of representatives to step forward and tell the speaker that regardless of the small minority in their party, and those who are enabling that small minority, it's time to push them aside and to do what is right and just for the american people and for the world and that is to pass a bill to extend our debt ceiling and get goth open and operating again. >> you described the senate, the work they're doing over there as reasonable. as head of the caucus over here are you saying that, you know

if that comes to fruition that house democrats would be willing to put up a seg cant number of votes to support something like that? >> we don't know exactly what the senate will produce but we know they are talking and while they may disagrow, what they're willing to do is try to come up with solutions, even though they may disagree. so at least they're demonstrating that they're open to different or new ideas, as we in the house have said all the way through. we are open to any new and different ideas that our republican colleagues may have. we just don't want them to put t risk our economy or american families' livelihood by shutting down our government in order to be able to discuss those new ideas. let's keep our economy going, let's keep our government running, and -- but let's discuss all those new ideas together and come up with some commonsense solutions. we got the impression, because both republicans and democrats

in the senate were saying, they were having good conversations, that maybe there were some reasonable ideas that were percolating in the senate and for the house republicans to now come out and say they're going to do something contrary to it, even their senate republican colleagues are discussing, seems to be a reckless attempt to try to circumvent what the senate is doing, which at this late hour, less than two days before we, for the first time, go over the cliff and allow our economy to be put at risk by not paying our bills, our past bills, that to me seems very irresponsible and it falls fall short of being common sense. >> the republican point of disagreement. >> of disagreement with he republicans? what we're being told is that republicans are going to rehash old ideas and they're going to ry to insert political ideas

into a budget bill where these political ideas have no place. and they're also now talking about, continuing to talk about , inserting these political ideas on a measure to keep the economy running. if they want to shut the economy down, the way the republicans have already shut most of the government or a good portion of the government, that doesn't help any american. and certainly when the president made very clear that he's open to new ideas, but not with a gun to the head of the american economy and the american family, so we're ready to have that conversation. on all those different ideas. to see if we can reach commonsense solutions and the senate seems to be trying to move in that direction. we have yet to see what the senate would propose but what we're hearing our republican colleagues in the house are proposing flies not only in the face of what senate republicans

are preparing to move forward with, with senate democrats, but it flies in the face of what the american people want and what our american economy needs. >> on the other side, reid and mcconnel are negotiating some type of deal, there's not been any sort of similar negotiations on the house side with speaker boehner and leader elosi. would people put forth those kinds of discussions on this side of the capitol? >> i think the traditions of the house and senate are somewhat different but i know there have been discussions with the -- by the speaker with the leader as well. it's not completely as you would indicate shut down in that rment. at the end of the day, mr. boehner has the majority. and of the vote -- has the majority of the votes that elected him speaker of the caucus.

i believe that he enjoys that position because of majority vote within his caucus as well. and he has a responsibility to bring to the floor the legislation that will pass and that will avert what we believe is an irresponsible approach to governing. he could bring a bill right now to the floor that can reopen government. he can bring a bill to the floor right now, more easily than the senate can, to avoid defaulting on our nation's debt. so i understand a great deal of responsibility lies in the hands of the speaker because of the difference in the ways the rules of the house and rule os the senate are in place. i believe that gives john boehner -- >> watching that taped news conference earlier in the day. take you live to the white house, press secretary jay carney with the reaction to the latest proposal by house republicans, different than the

plan announced yesterday by senate democrats and republicans. here's jay carney. >> to small businesses, jeopardizing thousands of jobs. and you know, again, another consequence of a wholly unnecessary, completely manufactured crisis that is doing harm to our economy, harm to our small businesses, and was brought about by, you know, one faction of one party in one house, one branch of

government, making ideological demands and thereby shutting down the government. with that, i'll take your questions. >> thanks, jay. is this the white house's understanding that there is a deal in the senate that's been finalized between harry reid and mitch mcdonell that -- mc-- mitch mcconnel that would reopen the government? >> the president is pleased with the progress we've seen in the senate. it is important to note that the process that's been undertaken in the senate is bipartisan. senators reid and mcconnel have been engaging one another. democrats and republicans have been engaging on this issue. and it's all built around a fundamental premise that we should not have smut down the government, we should reopen the government and we must ensure that the united states pays its bills on time as it always has. and we should do -- congress should take those actions in a way that does not have partisan strings attached and that ensures the kind of stability

for our economy and for our middle class that they need. so we're pleased with the progress. i would refer you to senate leaders for the status of those discussions but we certainly believe that there's a potential there for a resolution to this unnecessary manufactured crisis that can allow us to get back to the important business of helping grow the economy and create jobs and taking action to improve the lyes of middle class americans that elected officials were sent here to do. >> is the white house confidence that that could pass the senate and house ahead of the deadline for the debt ceiling? >> congressional timing and -- >> you guys know -- >> there's no question we are very close to a very important deadline. and time is of the essence.

so i think that is why you see some very serious-minded efforts being undertaken in the senate and we would hope that the house would also approach this important deadline with the same understanding -- understanding of just how serious it is. >> in 2011, the u.s. credit rating was downgraded just because the government got so close to a default. is the white house or treasury hearing from any of the rating agencies now that we are again very close? >> i would refer you to the treasury department for those kinds of conversations, if thear taking place, that wouldn't be something i would brief on from here. we know from past experience the difficult lessons learned om 2011 that the serious flirtation with default that house republicans engaged in

two queers ago led to some negative consequences for our economy including, as you noted, the united states being owngraded for the fers time. >> in the briefing every day, is he getting anything from officials about how the rating agencies -- >> that would not be something i would brief on from here because obviously they are issues that have to do with market sensitivities are not ones i would address here. >> last week, the president said that worst case scenario there are things that we'll do. what if thursday comes and there's no deal? >> i would not go further than what the president or secretary have said about that, i would refer you to treasury hsm treasury secretary jack lew testified last week where lodly -- broadly this issue was discussed. we are obviously focused on

working with members of congress, leaders in congress, on an effort to do what we said was essential all along. which was open the government and make sure the united states pays its bills by extending the debt ceiling. and doing that in a way that we don't simply put us on a trajectory to recreate this crisis in a few weeks. so we're encouraged by the progress we've seen in the senate but we're far from a deal at this point. we hope that -- we hope that progress continues. >> what is there about the senate deal that they're going to recreate the crisis in a few months what is there in it that doesn't mean we won't be doing this again? >> there's not a bill that i can analyze for you right now. i think that every participant in this exercise would hopefully understand that it should not be repeated.

not in a few weeks, not in a few months and when it comes to fundamental responsibility of congress to ensure the united states does not default, not ever. that's certainly the president's view. that is why he's been so insistent that we cannot engage in a process here that then a mes normalized where minority in congress, a faction of one party in one house, can threaten the full faith and credit of the united states if it does not get what it could not get through the nornlal legislative process or through elections. so that's -- those are the stakes when it dodges to the essential responsibility of congress to ensure that the department of treasury canopy our bills. >> are there strings attached in the deal as it appears to be

developing, what does the white house make of those strings? >> i'm not going to analyze dee de-tails of a bill that we -- analyze details of a bill that we have not seen yet. >> jay, it seems like some of the parts of the senate bill, reinsurance, income verification, the president said no one gets to threaten the full faith and credit of this, but states for if they're open to that, isn't that concession? >> what we have seen in the process thus far that senator reid has engaged in is proposal that would reopen the government and remove the threat of a first-ever u.s. default by raising the debt ceiling. you know, we don't need any more self-inflicted wounds from congress. the economy is already paying a

price as outside analysts have noted. there is already a cost to the economy and therefore to growth and jobs from this behavior and it's important, as i think so many americans believe that it stopped that congress simply fulfilled its basic responsibilities to open the government, to fund it at, again, levels that were set by republicans so that we can get about the business of negotiating in good faith over longer term budget proposals. >> but there are provisions on -- you are talking about the short-term increase in the debt ceil, the c.r., you're not going to talk about the obamacare provisions which are also on the table, you're talking about the short-term debt ceiling and c.r. provisions, even if these are sort of small fry gives on obamacare, doesn't it violate the principles that the president set out there that we

will not negotiate on obamacare? >> until we have a proposal that has emerged from these negotiations in the senate, i'm not going to, you know, analyze it with you piece by piece. what i can say is we have been encouraged by the progress and we believe and the president believes it's very important that when it comes to the debt ceiling that we not do what a previous effort in the house would have done, which is try to create a scenario where budget negotiations and the renewal of government funding are once again tied directly to the essential responsibility of congress to pay our bills. and right before the holidays. which would have been -- would be -- a terrible outcome to this process that every business leader will tell you. and i think many of them have told you and many of them have told their representatives in congress. so does he hold firm to the

assertion that he will not negotiate when it comes to obamacare on the full faith and credit of the united states or the government shutdown? >> he's made clear two things, as you know. he is willing within the context of broader budget negotiations, within the context of serious-minded and earnest discussions about how to improve the affordable care act to look at any proposal that might do that, going to obamacare. and that's true on broader budget issues. but some of the ideas we've seen this morning, when it comes to demanding ransom to try to rally tea party members in exchange for opening the government or raising the debt ceiling, that's not acceptable and has not been through this whole process. >> speaker boehner, real quickly is there nothing in the boehner proposal that's acceptable? >> reopening the government and extending the debt ceiling, that's acceptable. >> the obamacare provision included in the senate deal?

>> i think two things, one, as i understand it, there's not a proposal in the house to talk about now, based on the press conference given by house republican leaders, and based on some of the reporting i've seen since then, that's because they're now going back to try to add some sweeteners for tea party members. the better course of action is the one being undertaken by democrats and republicans in the senate. instead of trying to once again craft a measure to ensure full republican support in the house, why not work on a measure that could get bipartisan support in the house, the way that republicans and democrats are trying to do in the senate? that's certainly what i think is best for the american people, it's what -- it's the kind of process proposals that we haven't seen, it's hard to -- >> but aren't you cherry picking which parts you'll talk about? u'll talk about debt ceiling

encrease. but not other points. >> talking about the shut dunn and the need to raise the debt ceiling we've been talking about for a week. we've said all along we want a debt reeling increase for as long as possible because of the need to remove uncertainty from this process. the very uncertainty that has been created by this manufactured crisis is what we need to avoid as an economy going forward and what washington needs to avoid. because it is already causing harm to the economy. hs already causing uncertainty among americans which in turn has them making decisions about how they spend their money, which has a negative impact on, potentially, on the economy. and that creates a cascading effect, that can only be bad. which is why we need to, here in washington, why congress needs to fulfill its basic

responsibilities, reopen the government and make sure the full faith and credit of the united states is upheld as it has been in the past. >> what exactly is the deadline? >> for? >> raising the debt ceiling for default. >> those are two different things as we've been clear about. on october 17, as the treasury secretary has note maryland time the united states runs out of borrowing authority. beyond that point, we only have cash on hand available to pay our bills. the treasury sec retear has testified to this on capitol hill and is obviously far more an expert than i so i would point you to his testimony and public statements about that fact. but as everyone knows, in order to meet all our obligations, as a country, the united states needs borrowing authority. in order to make sure that all of our bills are paid. all of the obligations that congress has made, all of the bills that congress has

incurred, will come due and if we can only pay those bills with cash on hand, that is a problem. and that is what -- tpwh >> everybody has their countdown clocks going on, counting down to midnight tomorrow, is it midnight tomorrow when the calendar -- >> i refer you to -- as much as i'd like to improve the quality of the countdown clocks, i would have to refer you to treasury on the minute and hour. >> why does congress need -- when does congress need to act by? can something pass on thursday? will the sky fall if it doesn't pass on friday sf? when is the deadline they have got to produce something? is it tomorrow? >> john, the deadline for avoiding uncertainty has passed. the deadline for not shutting the government down has long sense passed system of congress has already failed to act in timely fashion. but we hope that congress will act quickly to resolve these issues. >> i'm just trying to figure

out -- >> i'm not sure what that means. they need to act as soon as possible. what is absolutely true is that every day we're in shutdown, there's harm done to hundreds of thousands of americans and indirectly to many, many more and there's direct harm done to our economy. and every day that we get closer to the point beyond which we have never been which is where the united states does not have borrowing authority, cree airports more trouble for our economy and uncertainty globally, which has a negative impact on the economy. >> obviously there's a lot of anxiety in the bond market. can bondholders be assured they'll receive interest after tomorrow? >> those are the kinds of questions that i think are best directed to the treasury department. what is unquestionably the case is that when people talk about prioritization they are talking about default by another day. when people talk about paying some bills but not others, they are talking about entering a

rem that this country and this government has never been in, which is picking and choosing who gets paid and when they get paid and that has tremendous negative consequences for our economy, not all of which are knowable beyond the fact that we know they're bad. >> no question. but do you have a game plan? this is no longer hypothetical, there's a real possibility congress doesn't act by whatever the deadline exactly is. do you have a game plan of what to do? >> this is obviously something the treasury department would have jurisdiction over, i refer you to treasury. >> and a specific question, the idea of suspending the medical device tax, i believe it's referred to as a ransom payment as part of the deal, the speaker's office is saying that this idea was actually proposed by white house staff in negotiations last week, is that true or not? >> that is not true. what we have always said is that other elements that lawmakers want to talk

about in an effort to improve the affordable care act, we are willing to have but not as in the context or or as ransom for opening the government. that is why a provision like that appears in the latest proposal. . it's an effort to try to buy votes from tea party republicans who shut this government down in the first place. >> they are not telling the truth about that. >> conversations have been had here and up on capitol hill. not ransom for opening the government, not ransom for congress doing its job to pay our bills, but within the context of the president's willingness to hear ideas about ways we can improve as opposed to undermine or dismantle or defund obamacare, we are willing to have that. but we are not going to pay ransom.

from the american people to the tea party to open the overnment. >> thursday, the speaker's spokesman said specifically that a white house official asked for a repeal of the -- >> that's just not the case. what -- >> it was asked for. out of the white house. >> you're saying separate from anything a white house proposed to change the affordable care act? obviously that's not the case. the issue of the medical device tax has been, obviously, in the air for the last several weeks. and when i had this question and others have taken this question, we have made clear that we would be willing to talk about lawmakers who want to address that position as well as that provision and other ideas lawmakers might have about making changes to the affordable

care act that strengthen it or improve it. when it comes to the medical device tax, i think it's important to note that the -- those who portray them 70's as paragons of -- those who portray themselves as pair gons, without acknowledging the fact it would raise the deficit. that's an important point to acknowledge, too. again, we have never said that -- and we would agree to paying ransom, making changes to the affordable care act, simply to placate tea party republicans who shut this government down over their opposition to the afofferedable -- affordable care act. >> ask for repeal of the medical device tax. >> correct. >> there are people on wall street and in washington who speak openly about the real crunch point being november 1 as opposed to thursday the 17th.

>> on october 17th as was made clear to congress in a letter from the treasury secretary, we cease to have borrowing authority. we only have cash on hand. and as everyone knows who understands how this process works, that means we do not -- there is a scenario by which we will not be able to pay all our bills because of the fact that we need to borrow money to pay our bills. these are bills that congress has incurred. these are obligation that is congress has made. this is not new debt. this is not new spending. there's a lot of misrepresentation of that by those who claim that they came to congress with a mandate never to raise the debt ceiling because that has nothing to do with spending, ok. it's just -- >> it has to do with the feeling that any obligation like social security come due on november 1, and that -- >> we have a huge number of

payments as a country that need to be made every day, and if there's a series of obligations that the united states government has to fulfill. for details about how that process works, i refer you to the treasury department. if anybody -- we have seen a lot of talk from -- not deficit, but debt limit deniers and default deniers. they have been roundly shot down, that talk has been, by experts in the field, including c.e.o.'s and financial industry experts, including many of whom, i think, tend to have the year of republican lawmakers. the absolutely not responsible thing to do to allow us as a nation to enter -- to enter territory we have never been in before, which is to not have the authority to pay our bills.

>> i wanted to ask you about the president's role in the final hours. yesterday there was supposed to be meeting of leaders of both parties. today he has house democratic leaders. senator mccain a short time ago on the senate floor, he's been critical in recent days of his own party. but a short time ago he said it's a mistake for democrats to reject speaker boehner's proposal. a serious proposal. my question is, does the president plan to, a, let the congressional leaders work this out in the final hours, or does he see that his role in the final hours, because this is so critical, as you say, that he will play some direct role in trying to force a deal? >> i have no doubt that the president will be in contact with congressional leaders of both parties as this process continues. as you know, but didn't include in your question, we postponed the meeting yesterday because of the progress that was being made in the senate.

it is the president's intention and reflected by the meetings and conversations he's been having with leaders, as well as the fact he invited every member of congress to the white house last week for discussions on this issue, to engage directly with lawmakers as they try to resolve this issue and try to do it in a way that hopefully reflects the bipartisan skills we have seen in the senate process. and we continue to hope that that will bear fruit and will produce something that can in the end lead to a resolution that opens the government, provides the authority to the treasury for the united states to pay its bills, so that we can focus on some of the bigger issues we face as a country instead of getting distracted by these manufactured crises. they only do harm to the economy. only do harm to the american people. and apparently, according to a lot of republican commentators, do a lot of harm to the republican party. we need to get beyond this for

the sake of the country. >> some of the big issues you e talking about, n.s.a., washington -- the n.s.a. is collecting email contact lists. not just of foreigners but americans. how do you justify that? >> as you know i'm not in a position to discuss specific tools or processes. as you know the national security agency is focused on discovering and developing intelligence about valid foreign intelligence targets such as terrorists, human traffickers, and drug smugglers. they are not interested in personal information about ordinary americans. moreover they operate in accordance with rules either approved by the attorney general or the foreign intelligence surveillance group, as appropriate, designed to minimize the acquisition, use, and dissemination of any such information. so, again, the purpose here is to discover and develop intelligence about foreign

intelligence targets, that is the mission and that is the purpose of the various methods that the n.s.a. employs. >> they are not interested in the privacy of the americans, except "the washington post" said they collect the telephone numbers of americans, street addresses of americans, business information. doesn't that contradict what you're saying? >> no, ed, in fact they are not interested in the personal information of ordinary americans. they target foreign intelligence -- their targets are terrorists, human traffickers, drug smugglers and the like, and they gather intelligence. there are procedures in place approved by the attorney general and fisa court that are designed to minimize the acquisition use and dissemination of any such information. information that might be collected as part of the effort to target terrorists and the like. >> the last question, robert gibbs had interesting things to say about the health care law

yesterday. he said when it gets fixed, i hope they fire some people that were in charge of making sure this thing was supposed to work. how do you react to that? since republican senator pat roberts has called for secretary see we'llous -- see bill to be -- see billous to be fired. >> the secretary has full confidence of the president. she like everyone sells focused on the number one priority which is making the implementation of the affordable care act work well. people are working 24/7 to address the problems. and isolate them and fix them when it comes to the website and enrollment issues. the fact is the president wants these matters addressed because he wants to make sure that americans across the country have the best possible consumer experience as they look at their options and the plans available to them and see the fact that for so many of them there is

affordable health insurance out there that was never there before. and i think it's important to note that even amidst this early stage of the enrollment process and even though there have been challenges with the website, there are americans across the country who are, through call centers and the website and the states, getting access to this information and making sure they have seen what choices are available to them and enrolling if they are ready to enroll. that includes a woman in illinois who bought health insurance for her family with the savings of about $390 a month from their current average, according to the "chicago tribune." in mississippi a woman who was skipping medication for years was able to enroll herself and her husband for a plan that will cost $60 a month. i notice last week in utah a father, family of five, small business owner, who said it took us half a dozen tries over several days, but he was able to

strike gold on saturday, silver, actually, goating a salt lake city tribune, with family health coverage purchased on the affordable care act's online exchange. after plugging in particulars about his family of five, the salt lake city city business owner was able to compare 38 plans and applied for tax credits to put towards his month monthly premiums. he settled on the silver level plan that retails for about $850 a month. after tax credits his family will pay just $123 a month. quote, it's a great deal. i'm thrilled to have coverage, period. so this is why we are doing this. these are the people we are focused on helping. and the president is committed and has instructed his team to work 24/7 to resolve the issues that have arisen when it comes to implementation. but the purpose here is to provide benefits to those americans who have struggled for so long without access to the

affordable health insurance. >> without mitigating the details, i want to ask you about october 17, if i can, quickly, and some of the urgency with that date. when the sequester went into effect there were predictions from this podium, dramatic predictions about long lines in airports, about special education funding. without denying the impact of the default when such a thing would take place, does that in any way undermine the white house's or administration's credibility when it says october 17 is some form of d-day when the 18, 19, 20 may come and the sky may not fall. what's the risk of that? >> i would simply say that there is nobody in this field who understands how financial markets work and understands default wouldt of

on the global economy who except the absurd position taken by the debt limit or default deniers. this is a serious matter. we have been through this and i have read quotes to you from numerous financial industry experts, numerous c.e.o.'s, president reagan among others, who noted the importance of maintaining the full faith and credit of the united states. and what we know is that on october 17 we cease to have borrowing authority. that means we can only pay our bills with cash on hand. we are the largest economy in the world and we have a lot of obligations. d our obligations exceed our income. and that is why we have to ensure that the treasury's able to borrow in order to pay our bills. >> for matter of days without spess physicality, i'm not jack lew, there's like a $6 billion

payment on october 31. $11 billion payment shy of that. so the potential exists we could go five, six, seven, eight days and nothing happens. isn't that a potential risk? >> what's a risk is even flirting with the idea we should try to wait until the very last moment before a bill comes due that we can't pay. this is the united states. the idea that we are going to send the signal to the world that it's an acceptable proposition, this is what some republicans on capitol hill seem to be conveying, that we can cross that threshold and just hope that we can resolve this before we have to delay a payment. already once you get to that deadline, you have entered territory we have never entered before. that sends a signal globally uncertainty about

the fidelity here in the united states, the principle we always pay our bills on time. that is why this line has never been crossed. after administration administration both democratic and republican, has taken the position that we should never cross this line. it's why business men and women, c.e.o.'s who understand the impact that this would have on what they do and on the american economy have called on congress to quit even flirting with the prospect of default. again, for details on what would happen if we were to cross that line, i would refer you to the treasury department. we are focused on working with congress to prevent that. as every member of congress who cares about the american economy should be focused on at this time. >> former defense secretary and c.i.a. director leon panetta this week said when you are operating by crisis, i think there is enough blame to go around.

does the president agree with one of his closest allies in the recent past he should also bear some of the blame for the situation we are in right now? >> here's what i would tell you. there is no question as we discussed in the past there are no winners in a situation like this, not the american people, not the american economy, and not members of either political party. any politician who plays this as a political gain looking to win is making a mistake. b, the president's position has been crystal clear. don't shut the government down. once they shut it down, reopen the government. he's asking for nothing in return. he's making no demands on congress. insisting on nothing from them in order to sign a bill that would reopen the government with no strings attached. the same when it comes to the responsibility of congress to raise the debt ceiling. there is only one party to this process that has been saying we would flirt with default.

we would even allow default if we don't get what we want. we are in a shutdown down, 15th day of a government shutdown. first in 17 years, because one faction in one party in one house of congress decided that it was so opposed to a law that had been passed by congress, signed into law by the president, upheld by the supreme court of the united states, and litigated to use your word, in a presidential campaign in which the candidate who took their position lost. that they shut the government down over not achieving their aim, which was to do away with it. the pred's position has been -- the president's position has been he has demanded nothing in return from congress. simply keeping the government opened and doing its job to make sure the united states doesn't default. >> the china state news agency, i'll read it for you, they said among other things, befuddled world to start considering building a dee americanized

world. what's the white house's message to the chinese? >> i don't have a message to any particular country. i would say it's an important fact that the full faith and credit of the united states, the principle that has existed for centuries, that this country pays its bills and pays them on time, and that includes paying investors from around the world, the principal -- principle that this economy is a safe bet and safest bet, that investment in our country is as safe as any investment anywhere, should not be compromised. and those who would compromise it are flirting with something -- are risking something that has immense value to the nation and to the american people. >> i wanted to follow on a

question to clarify. is the president negotiating on whether or not to reopen the government and raise the debt limit? >> our position has been no ransom for reopening the government. no ransom for congress fulfilling its responsibility to pay -- >> is he not negotiating? yes or no. >> well, it depends on what you mean by negotiate. he's been having conversations with lawmakers. what he will not do, what he has firmly made clear again and tea party ve the ideological agenda wish list in exchange for congress opening the government, or congress raising the debt ceiling so that the united states doesn't default. that's been his position all along. it's i think helpfully clear in its simplicity. open the government, pay our

bills, stop threatening default, stop doing harm to the economy and our people. that's been our position all along. my goal coming out here wasn't to reiterate those points that we have been saying for so long, it was to make clear that we see progress in the senate. we see in the senate process the kind of bipartisan effort that is the path to resolving these kinds of issues when it comes to these simple responsibilities that congress maintains. opening the government, funding it, making sure congress pays its bills. and we hope that all of congress takes the appropriate action to ensure that they do not continue to inflict harm on the american economy. >> one other thing i want to clarify. since you have been talking, speaker boehner has said for you to say that a senior administration official on raise the meeting

medical device issue is dishonest. can you clarify -- >> there have been conversations about the medical device tax because republicans have been putting it on the table and others have been talking about it. what we have always said is we have never, ever proposed or agreed to pay ransom in exchange for opening the government. and the proposal that had a brief existence this morning, apparently, before, i guess, the tea party pulled it down, demand to ithin it a placate the tea party related to the affordable care act in exchange for opening the government. our position has always been, we are not paying ransom for that. again, it is astoundingly disingenuous to suggest that our position has ever been, that we

are going to pay ransom to the tea party in order for the congress, house republicans, to open the government. > another topic. has the president had any reaction to the talks going on -- >> i'm not sure there is an offer. there was the p-5 plus one meeting in geneva, the first day of it, and the iranian delegation made a presentation. and the p-5 plus one spent the day discussing the presentation. we are not going to negotiate this in public or go into the details of what was in their proposal. we certainly want to make clear that no one, despite the positive signs we have seen, no one should expect a breakthrough overnight. these are very complicated issues, in some cases very technical issues. as the president has said the istrust here is very deep.

but we hope for progress in geneva. although we appreciate the recent change in tone from the iranian government on this issue, we'll be looking for specific steps that address core issues such as the pace and scope of its enrichment program, the transparency of its overall nuclear program, and stockpiles of enrichment. p-5 plus one is seeking an agreement that ultimately resolves all of the international community's concerns about iran's nuclear program. while we negotiate, we'll continue to keep up the economic pressure on iran. which has brought about the occasion for at least the prospect of making progress. >> the presentation that you find it encouraging? was it going in the right direction? >> after day one we are hopeful that we will make progress in geneva. beyond that i wouldn't characterize the presentation or

the status of conversations. >> polling on the shutdown and default stuff has been just clearly bad for congressional republicans. across the board. how do you think that should affect the way they proceed? and how do you think that should affect how the white house proceeds? continueuch you should with the measure? >> margaret, as the president said last week there are no winners here. you can't -- it's not the right thing to do to look at this as mart zahn -- partisan zero sum game. the right thing to do is to make no partisan demands as part of congress doing its basic job. funding the government. making sure the united states pays its bills on time.

the president is more than eager to sit down and work with lawmakers of both parties to discuss a broader budget agreement in which we can hopefully find compromise when it comes to making necessary investments in key areas like education and innovation and infrastructure while making balanced but tough choices when it comes to continuing the prospect of reducing our deficit and managing our long-term debt. that's been evident in the proposals he's put forward, and he wants to get back to that. but the context for that is, budget negotiations where there are no guns on the table. where the threat of shutdown, or the threat of continued shutdown is removed. the threat of default is removed. and lawmakers with good intentions from both parties, as well as the white house, can try to find a broader agreement on our budget priorities. that would be good for the

economy and country, and i think it would probably be good for everyone in washington much both -- of both parties. >> a snapshot in time of how -- do you feel that it has been well-done and does reflect the public sentiment. what is the polling telling you about how the public feels and both sides should proceed? >> margaret, i would just say that americans are justifiably frustrated by dysfunction in from ton, by a decision any quarter, in this case a decision clearly made by house republicans to shut the government down over a partisan dispute. or to threaten default for a partisan reason. again how the public views that i think is reflected in what's

been played out here. which is the president has taken a position where he's asked for nothing in return for congress doing its job. he is eager to sit down and have tough negotiations and conversations with republicans and democrats about our budget priorities. but only after these basic responsibilities are fulfilled. if the government reopen and the threat of default be removed. do you think that house republicans -- >> i just don't think that's the way we want to look at this here. here's the thing, whatever analysis you make of the data that you cite, and i think there's a consensus that reflects what you said, we wish it weren't so.

we wish instead congress simply kept the government opened. we wish instead that the house had allowed for a process by which congress without drama and delay ensured that the united states would pay its bills into the future. just like we wish for the country, for deficit reduction, for our economy, that the house would follow the senate's lead and pass comprehensive immigration reform with a big bipartisan vote. that might be good for the republican party. analysts say so, republicans say sorks we hope they do it. the president believes it's very important in our country to have two strong parties and to have parties with sincere differences, but lawmakers willing to make compromises, and politicians willing to make compromises without sacrificing their principles but willing to compromise in order to do the essential business of the american people and move our

country forward. that's the approach he's always taken. and one of the things that has been particularly difficult in these last several years is that we have seen a highly partisan wing of one party drive the train, if you will, when it comes to how we move forward on these issues. that makes it very difficult. -- the president's simple proposition has not been -- i think it's important if you shorthand it and say he doesn't want to negotiate, that ignores an entire calendar year in which he's been explicitly asking republicans to sit down with him and negotiate on budget priorities. he put forward a budget that reflected that. he had numerous meetings and meals and conversations with republicans in the senate and house about these very issues. but he does not believe that our partisan differences should be the excuse for shutting down the

economy, in the worst case scenario if there were to be default, or shutting down the government. that's just using the american people and american economy as awns in this partisan dispute. that's not the right way to do things. we ought to make sure that these essential functions are funded. make sure that the united states pays its bills. nd then we should negotiate. >> first of all, a few years ago i was uninsured and i wasn't able to get insurance. is there a chance the president would be willing to delay obamacare for a year if republicans would agree to delay heart attacks for a year? >> tommy, you know the president's position is that we need to implement the affordable care act. when it comes to the millions of

americans across the country who have had a very hard time getting access to affordable health insurance, we need to focus on those folks and continue the business of implementing the affordable care act so that on january 1 those americans will be able to purchase this insurance, quality insurance, at affordable rates for the first time. does that answer your question? fm my second question i was talking to my mom this morning and she asked me to ask you to please open the government back up again. and i know can't do that. she's worried about her social security check. i told her don't worry, mom. we'll get it taken care of. don't worry. it last night it was said that october 23 is when -- one of these drop dead days. stuff starts to pile up.

i guess my question is should she be worried? >> what i would say about that, which goes to the issue of the governmentg, is that through congress has made a lot of commitments. and has a lot of obligations. and those include the commitments and obligations that the congress has made and we have made to america's seniors. we need to never even contemplate the possibility that the timely provision of benefits to those seniors would be jeopardized by a decision by one faction of one party of one house of one branch of government to wage a theelogical battle here in washington. that's why -- it crystallizes the fact that there are real people who depend on some basic

things. and everybody in washington, democrats and republicans, and independents, should sort of agree to the principle we ought to at the very least assure those people are taken care of and that the essential functioning of government is allowed to proceed and that the basic premise that the united states always pays its bills on time is not jeopardized. that's the position the president has taken. >> the last debt ceiling deal, there was a plan where congress would authorize a debt ceiling increase for a year, year and a half, and it would hold a vote, every so off the republicans could vote no, it would require a 2/3 majority. is something like that being discussed now? if not, why not? >> i would basically direct you

to congress for the various plans under discussion and the plans that have been adopted in the past for how they fulfill their responsibility invested in them through the constitution to pay our bills. congress has the authority. whether it's to devise a scheme or plan along the lines you talk about, or simply just take the vote and raise the debt ceiling, that's not an authority that the president has, but an authority congress has. >> any conversations about that? >> i just refer you to the enate. >> basically you're saying thursday. you're not going to be able to pay all your bills. what should the american public be bracing for? >> let me be clear on thursday the united states runs out of its borrowing authority.

that means that the treasury only has cash on hand to meet the obligations that the united states government has. >> did you or can you not say the united states would not pay all its bills. >> what we can do and how it works, what i'm saying as nation the reason why we need to raise the debt ceiling is to make sure the treasury can borrow money to make sure we meet our obligations. inevitably if your obligations exceed what you take in, you're in a situation where default is a possibility. but the treasury is the right place to address those questions. again, i don't have the list of many outside experts who aren't crying fire. they are crying stop. stop doing, stop threatening the american and global economy with the prospect of default and just do the responsible thing and

pass a bill that extends the debt ceiling so that this is not even something that can happen or be contemplated. that's not us. certainly not us alone. the nk many folks from business world and both sides of the aisle here in washington have acknowledged we don't want to cross that line because the consequences would be very negative. >> i'm not laying any blame anywhere, i'm asking what should the american public be bracing for? because many americans already have had their paychecks stopped. many americans are concerned about government subsidies. thursday, friday, whenever, when you're not able to pay all of your bills, what should the american public be bracing for? >> i understand, april, and i would say, we hope we do not get to the point where that's a reality. it's entirely within congress' power and many cases the speaker of the house's power to ensure that does not happen. broadly speaking i said there is

reason to be concerned given the disposition we have seen in congress in particular among house republicans. although some senate republicans as well. to flirt with default, flirt with crossing that threshold beyond which we don't have borrowing authority. that's very dangerous. we believe that there's a majority in both houses to ensure that if given the chance, ensure this doesn't -- is not something that ever comes about. >> i have to go -- medal of honor -- >> we deal with this, what is the construct as to why we are here? we know partisan agendas and politics. sunday we saw a situation at the white house, come to the white house -- many persons are saying part of this has to do with race because the president is a african-american, black man. race a part of this

conversation? >> april, don't believe that's the issue. i believe that this is a decision by the elite -- republicans shut the government down. not because every republican wanted it, but because republican leaders in the house were listening to a faction within their own conference. and it's important that when it comes to reopening the government a majority of the house be allowed to vote on a clean c.r., for example, as we have talked about for a long time. when it comes to the essential responsibility to ensure that the united states pays its bills. that congress be able to take that action so that this threat is removed. and everybody, republicans and democrats, can get about the business of discussing and negotiating over our budget priorities. i have to get -- john, last one. >> quick one. does the president support the reinsurance provision? >> i will not negotiate into

items of proposed bills that haven't been written or submitted. >> reaction to the gentleman minority leader mitch mcconnell deciding to suspend negotiations until the house does or does not act today? >> again, we have seen progress in the senate and we hope to see continued progress in the senate. we have seen a bipartisan approach in the senate that we would hope that the house could emulate. julia. >> can you give us a time frame for when you think the federal exchanges will be fully functional, what entities are working for it, who pays for this fix? is this an additional cost to the federal government? >> those are all questions for h.h.s. and c.m.s. i can tell you that at the president's direction people are working 24/7 to resolve the problems that have arisen. taking steps to make sure that those many, many millions of americans who are interested in

the options available to them to purchase affordable health insurance, in many cases for the first time, have the best consumer experience possible. and there are a lot of people hard at work on this. for the details of work being done and process in place, i refer to you h.h.s. thank you, everybody. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national able satellite corp. 2013] >> live from the white house, press secretary jay carney at the daily briefing, updating reporters on where things stand at the moment. it is 40 minutes past the hour. there are dueling plans between the house and senate. later this afternoon at the white house the president is scheduled to meet at 3:00 p.m. eastern time with representative nancy pelosi, the house democratic leader, and members of the house democratic leadership. we expect to hear from them after that session. meanwhile on capitol hill we heard this morning from the speaker of the house, john

boehner, on his plan, slightly different from the senate plan. "the washington post" pointing out the house republican leaders putting forward their own plan that would reopen the federal government, raise the debt ceiling, and amend the president's health care law, but it's not clear whether they can get enough votes in the house to pass this bill. speaker of the house john boehner did indicate earlier in the day the house would take up a vote later today. the house is now in recess and the plan put forth by house republicans quickly shot down by senate democrats, majority leader harry reid, attacking the house republican effort saying that he had no idea this is coming. he was blind-sided by the speaker of the house in saying it's time for house republicans to support the plan being put forth by house and senate democrats and republicans. we are also live on capitol hill. we expect to hear from the senate leaders as they finish their party lunches, which they traditionally do on tuesdays. this is what the scene looks like outside the ohio -- when the senators come to the

microfeen phone we'll take you there live. earlier in the day we did hear briefly from members of the ouse republican leadership led by the speaker. this from runs about 3 1/2 minutes. -- this runs about 3 1/2 minutes. >> good morning, everybody. i met with our members today trying to find a way forward in a bipartisan way that we continue to provide fairness to the american people under obamacare. there are a lot of opinions about what direction to go. there have been no decisions about what exactly we will do. but we are going to continue to work with our members on both sides of the aisle to try to make sure that there's no issue of default and to get our government reopened. >> we just talked to our

members, and i think it's been very clear all along that we as republicans in the house have wanted. one, we wanted the democrats to sit down and talk to us so we could work out our differences, and we have been saying since day one that we believe there should be no special treatment under the law and it should be fairness for all americans. those elected and un-elected. and i'm glad to see that harry reid and the senate finally has begun to sit down and talk with the republican leader there and we encourage that. we also, though, as the house republican conference, think it's very, very important for us to stress in whatever proposal we move forward will reflect our position on fairness. that no special treatment for anybody under the law. >> very clear in our discussions that we think individuals should be treated fairly. big business should not have special treatment. members of congress should not have special treatment.

we are very confident of the calendar. we -- cognizant of the calendar. we want to find a solution to this in a bipartisan manner that gets us moving forward and american working again. >> for weeks now the republicans in the house have been leading with solutions and we believe upon hey need to be based fairness for all. we recognize that people all across this country continue to struggle and have their challenges, and as a foundation we want to ensure that laws are written and implemented in a way that provide that fairness for all, whether it's mom, dad, small business owners, seniors, young people, trying to find their way forward. and we in the house, we remain committed to being part of a solution to working in a bipartisan fashion to find those commonsense ways to make sure that we are doing what's good and right for america. >> the changes in your bill to the president's health care law are arguably pretty minor.

were they worth two weeks government shutdown? >> we are working with our members on a way forward and make sure we provide fairness to the american people. >> mr. speaker, can you guarantee the american people, congress will not go past the deadline and push us into default? >> i have made clear for months and months that the idea of default is wrong. we shouldn't get anywhere close to it. >> are you going to vote on the plan that would make changes to the senate bill -- >> we are talking with our members on both sides of the aisle to try to find a way to move forward today. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national able satellite corp. 2013] >> speaker of the house john boehner, members of the house republican leadership, briefing

reporters about two hours and 15 minutes ago. the markets began the day with up arrows, but now the dow down nearly 60 points as wall street keeps an eye on washington and whether or not there is an agreement that would reopen the federal government. also avert the u.s. defaulting on its debt. our phone lines are opened. just a couple minutes we want to hear from you. 202 is the area code. 585-3885 is our line for republicans. nd 202-585-3886 for democrats. the number to call for others, 202-585-3887. >> on day 15 of this government shutdown, just a few days before the nation reaches its credit limit, there are competing versions in the house and senate between democrats and republicans. let's begin with the senate version which would reopen the government through january 15 and would also allow the treasury to borrow into february. under the affordable care act

there would be an income verification. it would also set up further budget negotiations. that's the senate plan. the new house version unfailed earlier today would repeal a new tax on medical devices. it would take away federal health care subsidies for lawmakers. it would also fund the government like the senate plan through january 15. and give the treasury the ability to borrow money through february 17. this headline from politico.com, the white house saying the republican plan demands a ransom. joining us on the phone is dan berman, white house editor for politico. thanks very much for being with us. >> good to be here. >> first, walkthrough what we can expect from the president this afternoon. we know he's scheduled to meet with democratic leaders shortly after 3:00 eastern time. >> right. he's going to meet with the leaders on the house side, nancy pelosi, steny hoyer, jim clyburn and others. he's expected to make a statement at the beginning of that. the white house as you mentioned put out a statement saying kind

of blasting the house plan that was unveiled this morning saying that, again, it is another attempt by house republicans to demand the ransom in order to appease tea party republicans who forced the government shutdown in the first place. nd basically endorsed the -- the endorsement of the senate plan that's being negotiated between harry reid and mitch mcconnell saying there is only a couple days left until the u.s. exhausts its borrowing authority and it's time for the house to follow suit and pass the bill. president obama's also doing interviews with some local tv stations, including stations in new york and los angeles, those will be aired later this afternoon and evening. he's expected once again in those to talk about the effects of the shutdown is having on the economy, on federal employees, and also mention the debt ceiling and the potential effect, dramatic effect this

would have if we go over the fiscal cliff. >> senator harry reid on c-span2 earlier today and two points he made with regard to the republican plan, he said that senate democrats and senate republicans were, quote, blind-sided by this house version. he also added that he was, quote, disappointed in speaker boehner. how did this all come about over the last 12 to 16 hours? >> what's happened is reid and mcconnell basically took the raines -- reins and started talking. reid has been the democratic negotiator both in terms of representing the senate and also representing the white house. joe biden, who has traditionally made these last-minute deals has been pushed to the sideline this time. and what you saw unveiled yesterday was the idea that there would be some type of deal that would push everything, the debt ceiling and keeping the government opened until early

next year. there would also be a couple of tweaks to obamacare. not full defunding that a lot of republicans have been pushing for and kind of precipitated the shutdown. people expected that the house today would come back with some alternative, some pushback. it's interesting that the senate deal hasn't been finalized. there's no bill to look through or that's been introduced. the framework is out there, as you explained. of course the house is going to come back with something. john boehner has said the senate plan wouldn't be able to pass his house. the house republicans, especially the tea party caucus, has been adamant against anything that looks like capitulation to the white house. but there are some concessions here. just like the senate plan, it would push the federal spending bill until earlier next year. put the debt ceiling until

february. there is some movement there. the house had recently talked about doing a six-week plan that would put it towards the end of november near thanksgiving. there are differences, the house plan would delay the medical device tax for two years. the health insurance subsidies for members of congress would be very controversial. also include from the income verification requirements that the senate plan would address as well. they are getting closer to each other. definitely more than a couple days ago, but the -- both the comments from reid and pelosi and boehner have indicated they are still far apart. >> the deadline is looming. let me share with our audience a portion of this white house statement from a spokesperson for the president who said, quote, unfortunately, the latest proposal from house republicans --

>> as we speak to you on this tuesday afternoon, who makes the necessary move and what can we expect? what to exactly expect, the next move now that the house republicans have come out with their plan, the democratic leaders have criticized it, it will be interesting to see what president obama says this afternoon. he, again, we have heard what the white house has said, there is going to continue to be talks between reid and mcconnell. it's possible they'll unveil a deal or they will come back with a proposal of their own that responds to some of the concerns that speaker boehner has. but we are at the point where these things will change every couple hours. basically ping-ponging proposals back and forth. the question is how long does this go on? and then the question is, does either of these plans pass the

house or senate? ted cruz has indicated that he would try and delay any senate deal. he has the question will john boehner bring up any senate deal for a vote? obviously if he needed to rely on all the democrats and maybe a small minority of republicans to pass it, that would put him in a precarious position, it would violate the house rule that would be doing something the majority of this caucus don't like. today and tonight and tomorrow expect a lot of ping-ponging offers back and forth. kind of these dramatic statements back and forth. they do seem, at the end, to be getting closer inch by inch. >> finally, dan berman, as you talk to your sources both at the white house and on capitol hill, where is the frustration level for elected officials and staffers who have to deal with all of this? >> i think they are at deaf con1 by now. -- def-con 1. this has been going on.

shut down for 15 days and negotiations started well before that in september. they are looking at the reaction of the markets. reaction of the public. the polls have shown that more people blame republicans than democrats for what's going on. the markets are definitely trying to send a message that they don't want america to go over the fiscal cliff. they don't want us to be in a position where we are not able to pay our bills or having to rioritize what bills we pay. it's been exhausting. senate and house have been here on weekends. they haven't gone home. for all the complaints about washington not getting anything done, these guys are working hard to try and do it -- do something, but they are still going to take movement at the top in order to send this off. >> one other bit of breaking news, we heard from senator reid, according to your own news organization that he will -- that the senate will reject the current house plan. >> yeah. that sounds about right.

they are going to keep going back and forth. the interesting thing is very few of these proposals actually are going to come up for a vote. these bills aren't really written and what you're seeing is proposals going back and forth. it would be kind of easy if they agree on a deal to then write up the legislation and move it through. at the moment you're not going to see a lot of voting back and forth. especially in the senate where it takes some time to set up the procedural mechanisms. >> more online at politico.com. dan berman white house editor for politico, thanks very much for being with us. >> thank you. >> c-span's live coverage continues. we expect to hear more from senators in a couple minutes. you are looking at a live view in the area known as the ohio clock, foreground of your screen. one side note, that clock no longer works. the individual responsible for

winding the clock was furloughed as a result of the government shutdown. but the senate and house expected to convene back in later in the day. we'll get more details following the party lunches. once we hear from senate leaders, we'll take you there live. in the meantime we want to hear from you. our phone lines are opened. sandra, joining us from old hickory,town tfpblet republican line. good afternoon. caller: i understand there are no longer signing people up for medicare. they are now wanting to put them on obamacare. i called to get on obamacare and found out it was $610 a month. after staying online for an hour answering all of their questions. and i said, hey, i'm only getting $1,000 a month and this is $610. and they said, oh, i'm sorry, you don't qualify. i mean the president can take $100 million vacation, africa, hawaii, and all these places. he's really concerned about me and my situation?

i don't think so. i would like somebody to do something. right now i'm for the republicans. i think they have just gotten a bum rap. i think the democrats are just ramrodding their way into if you don't give us what we want, we'll shut the country down and that's what they are going to do. >> thanks for the call. appreciate it. this is from steve who says, tongue in cheek, i love ted cruz. thank you, ted cruz. you have done more for my party than anyone ever dreamed of dofplgt thanks again, signed a democrat. next is don joining us on the independent line from california. go ahead. caller: how you doing. i was wondering about this obamacare. i know that there's all kinds of citizens in the united states but how about the homeless? who is paying for the homeless people that are living in the streets in the back alleys an all that? who is paying for the homeless out here? >> this is from "the washington

post" website, reporting from lawrie montgomery, with the headline, with the deadline looming house g.o.p. struggles to build support for a new debt and funding plan. one of the questions at this hour is whether or not the house republicans have enough votes for the plan that was initially put forth by the speaker of the house as he met with members of his house republican caucus this morning. the framework includes the following. it would repeal the medical twice tax as part of the affordable care act. it also ensure that no health care employer subsidies provided for any member of congress. and then it would fund the government through mid january. >> we heard from the press secretary, the u.s. will reach its credit limit and potential of defaulting on its bills beyond thursday or friday. again that deadline is somewhat fluid. we did hear from treasury secretary jack lew that thursday was the deadline. meanwhile, there is a senate plan as well that was put forth late yesterday by senators harry

reid and senator mitch mcconnell which would reopen the government again through january 15. so the same agreement on that part of the measure. between the house and the senate. also allowing the treasury department to borrow into february. but it would require an income vary kay figures under the affordable care act under the senate version and would set up the framework for further budget negotiations. so that's the difference between the house and the senate plan. again, we're keeping an eye on both chambers, both bodies and leaders from both parties. carl is joining us from washington, west virginia. on the republican line. what's your take on all of this, carl? caller: yes. i have a question. >> sure. caller: i've been hearing republicans and a few democrats talking about president obama and the a.c.a. bill and they're