GOP Running Out Of Tricks To Keep Government Open...
Congress out of gimmicks. NYT: First came the 'supercommittee,' ... Then came the 'McConnell plan,' a way for Congress to raise the government’s debt limit without actually voting to do so. And in January there was 'no budget, no pay,' a measure coupled with the last debt ceiling increase to deny paychecks to lawmakers if they did not pass a budget ... Now ... conservative Republicans in the House have declared they will not go along with any more gimmickry from their leadership ... "
GOP might put debt limit vote ahead of government funding vote. Politico: "There is discussion in House Republican leadership circles about setting a debt ceiling vote before Sept. 30. If Republican leaders show in the next few weeks how they will use the debt ceiling to delay Obamacare, it will display that the party’s brass is serious about an all-or-nothing legislative brawl with Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama. That could help ease the passage of the continuing resolution to fund the government."
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer pledges to oppose any bill that maintains sequester. The Hill: "Hoyer’s new stand puts him at odds with some other top Democrats, who also strongly oppose the sequester cuts but have not ruled out the option of supporting them in a short-term bill to avoid a government shutdown."
Boehner needs Pelosi to avoid shutdown. Politico: "House GOP leadership’s decision last week to back away from a continuing resolution from the floor amid Republican opposition raises the possibility that Speaker John Boehner might ultimately have to call on Democrats to avoid a government shutdown ... But Democrats aren’t willing to just go along. For one, they’re looking to use the budget showdown as another opportunity to paint the GOP as a party beholden to extremists ... They’re also looking to advance policy goals of their own. Some Democrats think that attaching the Senate’s immigration bill to the CR would effectively counter the GOP effort to use the CR as a mechanism to force the Democratic-controlled Senate to vote on defunding Obamacare."
...But Ready To Take Food From Poor
CBO details damage done by House GOP food stamp bill: "According to the CBO, 1.7 million people would be forced off the rolls in the coming year if the state waivers are repealed as proposed by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Another 2.1 million would be dropped in 2014 as a result of the tighter eligibility rules backed by the GOP ... CBO estimates that a total of 2.8 million people would lose their benefits over the next decade, and another 850,000 households will see an average reduction of about $90 a month in benefits."
"Focus on Who Deserves Food Aid" reports Roll Call: "Republicans will call for tightening work requirements to reduce the number of jobless, able-bodied people relying on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for help with food ... Democrats will argue that the bill includes financial incentives for states, which administer SNAP, to move people out of the program without guarantees of continued employment. They also likely will say entire households could lose food aid if a member no longer qualifies for SNAP."
MN expected to hike minimum wage. W. Post: "The state House this year passed a measure to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2015, which would make Minnesota’s one of the highest minimum wages in the nation. But the state Senate passed its own version of the bill increasing the wage to $7.75 an hour, meaning negotiators from the two chambers will need to iron out their differences before a wage hike can go into effect ... Most workers in Minnesota earn the higher federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour."
Another Mass Shooting Renews Gun Control Push
"After shooting, talk turns to gun control" reports Politico: "The latest tragedy is all too fresh, but the politics are the same. Last April, a Senate filibuster effectively blocked the effort to expand background checks and ban the sale of assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines ... Gun control advocates said they hope the White House and the president won’t hesitate for long before diving back into the legislative battle ... members of Congress who’ve supported gun control legislation offered varying reactions to Monday’s violence, with some quickly bemoaning the legislative quagmire and others leaving the discussion for another day."
Investigators try to determine what weapons the killer brought with him. NBC: "The gunman was armed with an assault-style rifle, a shotgun and a handgun when he was killed, authorities said. But law enforcement officials told NBC News they believed he arrived packing only the shotgun, which he bought last week from a gun dealer in Lorton, Va., about 20 miles from Washington."
Suspect had been involved in prior shooting incidents. NYT: "In 2004, according to a Seattle police report, Mr. Alexis walked out of his grandmother’s home one morning, pulled a .45-caliber pistol from his waistband and fired three rounds at a construction worker’s car, two at the rear tires and one into the air ... In 2010, Mr. Alexis was arrested in Fort Worth for discharging a firearm. At the time, Mr. Alexis had been living in an apartment complex called Orion at Oak Hill. His upstairs neighbor called the police after she heard a pop, saw dust fly and noticed holes in her floor and ceiling. She told the police that Mr. Alexis had confronted her in the parking lot about making too much noise, and she felt threatened by him..."
