WASHINGTON (AA) - As many federal agencies prepare to shut their doors if the US Congress cannot agree on a budget Monday, US President Barack Obama called for the legislative body to overcome partisan politics.
"The bottom line is that the Senate has passed a bill that keeps the government open, does not have a lot of extraneous issues to it, that allows us then to negotiate a longer-term budget and address a range of other issues but that ensure that we're not shutting down the government and we're not shutting down the economy at a time when a lot of families out there are just getting some traction in digging themselves out of the hole that we've had as a consequence of the financial crisis," said the US President.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives Sunday passed a continuing resolution that would have funded the government, but would have offset the implementation of Obama’s healthcare overhaul for a year.
Senate Democrats rejected the plan on Monday, bringing both sides into another round of budgetary volleys. Even if the resolution passed the Senate, the White House has threatened a veto should the new healthcare law be defunded. Both sides have until midnight to find a solution, or see many government agencies shut down.
President Obama emphasized the US' role in the global economy, and called on his political opposition to not jeopardize America's standing.
"We are the foundation of the world economy and the world financial system. And our currency is the reserve currency of the world. We don't mess with that. And we certainly don't allow domestic policy differences on issues that are unrelated to the budget to endanger not only our economy but the world economy."
He added: "There is a pretty straightforward solution to this. If you set aside the short-term politics and you look at the long-term here, what it simply requires is everybody to act responsibly and do what's right for the American people."
