US shutdown: Barack Obama cancels Asia trip
US President Barack Obama: "Nobody is winning"
US President Barack Obama has cancelled his trip to Asia because of the US government shutdown.
Mr Obama will miss two summits, including the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) meeting in Indonesia. The decision was made due to the "difficulty in moving forward with foreign travel in the face of a shutdown", the White House said.
The US government closed non-essential operations on Tuesday after Congress failed to agree a new budget.
Mr Obama called Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday morning and expressed his regret for the cancellation, Indonesian Presidential Spokesman for Foreign Affairs Teuku Faizasyah told the BBC.
The visit has not been rescheduled, the spokesman added.
Secretary of State John Kerry will attend the Apec gathering and the East Asia summit in Brunei in Mr Obama's place, the White House said.
'Avoidable'
House Speaker Boehner: "This isn't some damn game"
"This completely avoidable shutdown is setting back our ability to create jobs through promotion of US exports and advance US leadership and interests in the largest emerging region in the world," the statement added.
Mr Obama had been due to begin a four-nation Asian trip on Saturday, heading to Bali and Brunei for regional summits before travelling on to Malaysia and the Philippines.
On Wednesday, the White House had said Mr Obama would postpone his trips to Malaysia and the Philippines because of the US government shutdown, but maintained that he would travel to Indonesia and Brunei.
Continue reading the main story
They've been called the "suicide caucus" in reference to their disregard for their party's survival. In national security debates, immigration reform, disaster relief, defence authorisations, and even agriculture funding, Mr Boehner has found his position undermined by these rebellious legislators.
But these representatives reflect the will of the voters who sent them to Washington, a decidedly different demographic than America at large.
This has forced Mr Boehner to operate more like the tolerant head of a coalition government than an iron-fisted speaker of a past era, who could make or break a politician's career at will.
Republican 'suicide caucus'
Analysis
This is the most recent example of the ongoing problem Mr Boehner has controlling the Republican caucus, especially a rebellious faction hailing from solidly conservative, mostly rural areas across the country.They've been called the "suicide caucus" in reference to their disregard for their party's survival. In national security debates, immigration reform, disaster relief, defence authorisations, and even agriculture funding, Mr Boehner has found his position undermined by these rebellious legislators.
But these representatives reflect the will of the voters who sent them to Washington, a decidedly different demographic than America at large.
This has forced Mr Boehner to operate more like the tolerant head of a coalition government than an iron-fisted speaker of a past era, who could make or break a politician's career at will.
Republican 'suicide caucus'
The US government partially shut
down operations on Tuesday after Republicans who control the House of
Representatives refused to approve a budget, saying they would only do
so if Mr Obama's healthcare reform law was delayed or stripped of
funding.
Mr Obama and the Democrats have refused, noting the law was
passed in 2010, subsequently approved by the Supreme Court, and was a
central issue in the 2012 election which Mr Obama won handily.On Friday, Democrats and Republicans appeared no closer to finding a way out of the impasse.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner insisted Mr Obama and Democratic Senate leaders open negotiations on the shutdown.
"All we're asking for is to sit down and have a discussion," he said. "This isn't some damn game."
Mr Obama, out for a sandwich at a shop near the White House later, said he was happy to hold talks with the Republicans, "but we can't do it with a gun held to the head of the American people".
"This shutdown could be over today," he said. "We know there are the votes for it in the House of Representatives. If Speaker Boehner will simply allow the vote to take place, we can end this shutdown."
The US also faces running out of money and defaulting on its debt if there is no agreement to raise government borrowing limits later this month.
'Worse than 2008'
IMF head Christine Lagarde says it is "mission critical" that the situation is resolved
She said it was "mission critical" that the US agrees a new debt limit.
Ms Lagarde's comments were echoed by the US Treasury.
It said a debt default could lead to a financial crisis as bad as 2008 or worse.
Meanwhile, the impact of the shutdown was being felt across the country.
The National Transportation Safety Board did not send investigators to a deadly church bus crash in Tennessee that killed eight people and injured 14 others.
The labour department also said it would not release the highly anticipated September jobs report on Friday because the government remains shuttered.
With Tropical Storm Karen bearing down on the Gulf states, the website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), carried a message saying: "Due to the Federal government shutdown, NOAA.gov and most associated web sites are unavailable."
It referred visitors to the National Weather Service.
However, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) recalled workers to help prepare for the storm.
On Friday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the House would vote on a measure to re-open Fema as well as the National Weather Service to deal with the impending storm.
No comments:
Post a Comment