President Barack Obama on Monday spoke about the effects of shutting down the government if Congress failed to act. With hours to go until the government stopped running, Congress appeared to be at a standstill. House Republicans have insisted that in order to continue funding the government for a couple more months, the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," needed to be delayed another year. Senate Democrats and the White House have insisted that is a non-starter.
This stalemate means at midnight on Monday the government would shutdown. As President Obama said that would mean among other things hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be furloughed or would have to work with no pay. National parks and museums would close immediately and subsidies for millions of women, children and the elderly would be delayed if not even stopped. He said even if Congress were to vote in favor of the delay it would not stop it from going forward tomorrow. He insisted Congressional Republicans stop playing games and stop holding the economy hostage and do their job in funding the government and paying the bills.
