Money Matters

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) took to the Senate floor today to rebuff the White House's swift dismissal of a new House GOP plan that insists on some revisions to the Affordable Care Act as a condition for ending the government shutdown and raising the debt limit. "Let's stop the condemnation," said McCain, who said the House and the Senate should pass their respective plans and go to conference in the next 24 hours. McCain called the House GOP's proposal a "good-faith effort."

The White House issued a statement this morning criticizing House Republicans' latest plan. “The president has said repeatedly that members of Congress don’t get to demand ransom for fulfilling their basic responsibilities to pass a budget and pay the nation’s bills," said White House Spokeswoman Amy Brundage. The White House also praised a bipartisan Senate effort to end the shutdown and raise the debt limit.

"Unfortunately, the latest proposal from House Republicans does just that in a partisan attempt to appease a small group of Tea Party Republicans who forced the government shutdown in the first place," Brundage said. "Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have been working in a bipartisan, good-faith effort to end the manufactured crises that have already harmed American families and business owners. With only a couple days remaining until the United States exhausts its borrowing authority, it’s time for the House to do the same.”

McCain also said he agrees with many Americans that Republicans had pursued a "fool's errand" by attempting to defund the healthcare law.

Earlier today at a press conference, a reporter asked House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) whether the "arguably pretty minor" changes to the healthcare law proposed in the latest House GOP plan were they worth a two-week government shutdown.

"Listen, we're working with our members on a way forward, and to make sure that we provide fairness to the American people," Boehner replied. He reiterated his desire to avoid defaulting on the debt. "We are talking with our members on both sides of the aisle to try to find a way to move forward today."