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| Federal Budget Battle Far From Over |
(IRN)-Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown Friday, reaching an agreement just before 11 p.m. But the federal budget battle isn't over.
President Barack Obama signed a short term plan that will fund the government on Saturday, preventing the shutdown.
As for the long term plan, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) says he's pleased with what went into the agreement, which will fund the federal government until the end of the year and is expected to be passed by the middle of this week.
"We managed to make the cuts that are necessary, to reduce the deficit, and yet we still managed to preserve and protect a lot of programs that are essential," said Durbin. "For example, to make sure that early childhood education, the Head Start program, is not going to take the massive cuts that were once proposed."
Durbin said he was also happy to see that Pell grants for college students remained intact, and he said the message to Americans on spending cuts is a tough one.
"It's going to touch virtually everyone…we're going to all have to work together (and) accept the fact that there will be shared sacrifice," he said.
However, another budget hurdle still awaits Congress. The debt ceiling for the federal government needs about a trillion dollar boost so the government can avoid default. The limit is currently at about 14 trillion dollars.
"If we don't renew that mortgage, we default on it, to put it in simplest terms," said Durbin. "And the full faith and credit reputation of the United States is at stake."
Durbin said he asked U.S. Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner what would happen if the federal government defaults on its national debt.
"He said it will trigger an economic recession larger than the one we just went through, and it may have repercussions across the world," said Durbin. "We can't let that happen."
Durbin said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has signaled that he will not allow the government to default.
"That's a responsible statement by him," said Durbin. "But some members of his party in both the House and the Senate have said they're not voting for it. Well, eventually we have to accept the reality. If we don't extend the debt ceiling, which we have to extend, then the economy of America is in a bad situation and we're going to find ourselves with interest rates going up, jobs being lost, and sinking back into a recession. That's an alternative we just can't accept."
The trillion dollar increase in the debt ceiling must pass Congress by mid May.
(Source: Illinois Radio Network) |
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| 04 11 11 by Newsroom |
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