Perry, Conaway Hold Firm with Republicans on Government Shutdown

Congressman Mike Conaway (R-Midland) told the congressional pay office to withhold his pay for the duration of the federal government shutdown.  The shutdown will continue into its third day Thursday.

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives have sent continuing resolutions, or C.R.s to the Senate that fund the federal government, but attached to the C.R. is a provision to defund Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act.  Obamacare is President Obama’s and the Democrat Party-controlled Senate’s signature accomplishment. Republicans say it’s bad public policy.  Democrats say it’s not negotiable.

Politico reported today that congressional leaders and President Obama held an hour-long meeting Tuesday afternoon but, according to House Speaker John Boehner, the President and the Democrat Senate leaders refused to negotiate, demanding once again a clean C.R. without the defunding of Obamacare provision.

Conaway is continuing to advocate for the Democrats to come to the table and negotiate Obamacare before the House releases government funding and end the shutdown.

Governor Perry Backs Republican Efforts in Washington

Texas Governor Rick Perry was in San Angelo today, and he was asked about the government shutdown.  He said, “I don’t think anybody wants to see government be dysfunctional. Fortunately in Texas we have men and women who don’t mind coming together and finding solutions for the state. We’re able to do it because that’s what the people expect us to do. “

“I was stunned when President Obama and Harry Reid stood up and said, ‘we are not going to negotiate. It is our way or the highway.’ I don’t think that’s healthy. And I don’t think its good for this country,” Perry said.

Perry said that Obamacare is bad public policy, “Over the next 10 years, over $18 billion of Texas taxpayers money will pay for this horrible piece of legislation. I don’t know why we cannot have a conversation about it,” Perry said. “This administration would rather play politics than negotiate with those who have legitimate concerns. But we’re going to continue to operate as a state.”

In a riff that included the three branches of government Perry said he’d eliminate if he were elected president during the Fall 2012 Republican presidential debates, he ticked them off easily, suggesting that the Departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy aren’t as essential to the lives of everyday Americans as conventional wisdom suggests.

“As a matter of fact, I suspect all the children in the State of Texas, and children across the country are being educated today even though 97% of the Department of Education is not at work.  My bet is that manufacturing is still occurring and jobs are still being created in America, although a large number [of employees] at the Department of Commerce in Washington D.C. are not at work. And I can promise you [another] thing. There is still energy being discovered and appropriately being produced even though the Department of Energy is shut down today. So maybe there’s a message going across the country today that while we want to see government be effective, maybe we’ve got too much government in Washington D.C.,” Perry said.