Shutdown: Where CA Lawmakers Stand

For the first time in 17 years, the federal government has shut down. As CalWatchdog.com has previously explained, this doesn’t exactly mean that steel bars have dropped in front of all government buildings. Rather, some programs are temporarily shuttered and non-essential employees go home.

About half of all federal workers are deemed essential and will remain on the job. Also, Congress and President Obama have already agreed on a bill that would continue to pay American troops. If the House has its way, other parts of government like the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Park Service will reopen too. The House plan announced Tuesday would also enable the local government of Washington, D.C., to maintain basic services like garbage pickup.

But that doesn’t mean a shutdown still won’t affect California. The Golden State doesn’t rely as heavily on the federal government for employment as Maryland or Virginia, but the shutdown will still have some effect. After all, California employs 150,762 federal workers, more than any other state. (It remains unclear exactly how many of those employees are being furloughed.)

In addition to federal workers, California also supplies the federal government with plenty of politicians. So where do some of the key players in Washington — those that can actually make a difference dealing with the shutdown — stand?

Of course, they all say that they oppose a government shutdown. But the disagreements occur over how exactly to end the stalemate. House Republicans want Senate Democrats to take part in a conference committee to sort out a compromise that would end the stalemate. The House hopes that they can pass a continuing resolution (CR) that might include some changes to Obamacare, such as a repeal of the medical device tax or the removal of special exemptions for Congress. Democrats demand the immediate passage of a “clean CR,” or a bill that would fund the government without any strings attached. Since they’ve been unable to come to a compromise, the government remains unfunded.

Via: California Political Review

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Harry Reid blocks funding for veterans programs, national parks

Senate Democrats blocked four resolutions to fund government programs, including paying the National Guard and opening national parks, as Republicans offered the limited measures in an attempt to win the government shutdown fight by financing popular programs and leaving those they oppose untouched.

“Unbelievably, today Senate Democrats went on record to oppose funding for National Guard and Reserve salaries, veterans’ services, lifesaving medicine and cures, and national parks and museums," Senate Republican Conference chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said in a release following the procedural battle.

"Congress unanimously passed a bill to ensure active-duty military personnel are paid during this lapse in government funding, and it’s unclear why Senate Democrats wouldn’t pass similar measures to fund these important services,” Thune said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., asked for unanimous consent to pass funding for the Veterans Affairs Department and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, requested unanimous consent to pass a bill funding the national parks and monuments. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., rejected both.

Via: Washington Examiner

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National Park Service to Keep WWII Memorial Open to Veterans

After veterans once again breached barricades at the shuttered Word War II Memorial on Wednesday, the National Park Service announced that it would keep the monument open to veterans as a free speech right.

After similar scenes Tuesday, two groups of veterans from Missouri and the Chicago area descended on the World War II memorial in two phases before noon, this time led by Republican and Democrat legislators.

And one veteran activist said perhaps the two feuding political parties could make peace over the issue of honoring the men and women of World War II.

All memorials on the Mall have been closed closed and most are cordoned off, as a result of the government shutdown. The National Park Service specified that only the World War II Memorial would remain open and only to veterans.

The veterans Tuesday were part of honor flight programs, which fly veterans for free from around the country to Washington to see the World War II Memorial.

Jeff Miller, co-founder of the Honor Flight Network, said: “The Park Service, they have been so compassionate. They have done everything they could, bent over backwards, to make sure veterans were not inconvenienced or disappointed.”

Via: Washington Post

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Even Before Memorial Defacement, Nat'l Park Service Was $11.5B Short for Maintenance

(CNSNews.com) - The defacement of the Lincoln Memorial, splashed with green paint overnight, comes at a difficult time for the National Park Service, which says it is running way short of money for maintenance projects.

In testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday, the director of the National Park Service said at the end of fiscal 2012, the National Park Service faced an $11.5-billion backlog of deferred maintenance projects.

"This amount grows annually at a far greater rate than the Service is able to pay down," Jonathan Jarvis said.

Just to hold the backlog at $11.5 billion would require the NPS to spend nearly $700 million a year on deferred maintenance projects, he said. "To place this figure in perspective, the annual operating budget of the entire National Park Service in Fiscal Year 2012 was $2.2 billion."

The park service says it needs more money, not only to repair or maintain existing facilities and roads (half the maintenance backlog is roads and bridges), but also for visitor education and safety, resource protection and wildlife management.

"Congress charged the National Park Service with protecting these special places in perpetuity, and it is the fundamental responsibility of Congress to provide annual appropriations commensurate with the responsibilities it has given us to manage these special places," Jarvis said in his written statement to the committee.

Via: CNS News

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