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      Senate Rejects Budget Bill, Pushing US Government Closer to Shutdown

   by VOA News

   Senate Democrats on  Monday killed a proposal by the Republican-led
   House of Representatives to delay Obamacare for a year in return for
   temporary funding of the federal government beyond Monday.
   By a partisan vote of 54 to 46, the Democratic-controlled Senate
   defeated the Obamacare delay and a House amendment repealing a medical
   device tax that were attached to an emergency spending bill.

   The straight-forward funding bill that would run through Nov. 15 is
   aimed at averting a government shutdown. It now goes back to the House,
   where its fate is unknown.
   About an hour before the vote, President Barack Obama said he is not
   resigned to a U.S. government shutdown and that he will talk to
   congressional leaders.
   He spoke at the White House at mid-day Monday, as U.S. lawmakers
   remained at odds over a spending bill to keep the federal government
   running.
   Mr. Obama said all involved must sit down and negotiate in good faith
   -- but that this should not be done under the threat of a debt default.
   The president said the U.S. dollar is the reserve currency of the world
   and that, as he put it, "we do not mess with that."
   The U.S. Senate has just hours to reach a compromise with the House of
   Representatives on a spending bill.
   Democrats say the law gives low income individuals and people without
   health insurance the chance to buy a low-cost, federally-subsidized
   policy to prevent financial ruin in case of serious illness.
   Republicans say the program is confusing and not ready. They also say
   that the law hurts the economy by imposing more taxes and by forcing
   small businesses to provide coverage for their employees.
   If nothing is passed by both houses of Congress by midnight Monday, all
   but the most essential government services will start closing down.
   Tourists would find national parks and museums closed. Anyone needing a
   passport or help with taxes would have to wait. More than one million
   civil servants may not get paid during the shutdown.
   The spending fight is a prelude to a confrontation over the nation's
   credit limit, expected to hit in mid-October.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/us-government-nears-shutdown/1760031.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-government-nears-shutdown/1760031.html