Casey warns of dire consequences from congressional showdown over Obamacare
Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. senator is warning about the possible consequences of a federal government shutdown come Tuesday.
A resolution the House sent to the Senate would fund the government in the short term, but only if the Affordable Care Act is defunded.
The bill is considered dead-in-the-water, if not in the Democratically controlled Senate, then at the president’s desk.
But Sen. Bob Casey said the resulting government shutdown would “crater” efforts to rebuild the economy.
“A shutdown could delay financial support for more than 227,000 small businesses in the state,” Casey said. “A shutdown could delay military pay and hurt military families in the state, especially when you consider the some 23,900 civilian workers in Pennsylvania.”
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pennsylvania, has said he does not support keeping the government funded in the short term unless it makes changes to the health care law.
Toomey wants to repeal the medical device tax from the law. Casey agrees with that, but said now is not the time to do it.
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