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Rahall says there are ‘adults’ in the U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A lot of back and forth was again reported on Capitol Hill Tuesday as the U.S. government continued to approach the current debt ceiling with no alternative plan to avert default in place.

Third District Congressman Nick Rahall (D-WV) talked about the ongoing work to reopen government and avoid default on Tuesday’s MetroNews ‘Talkline.’

Without action, the U.S. will start running out of money to pay its bills on Thursday.

With the deadline looming, leaders in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House were working on different proposals designed to keep that from happening.

As of Tuesday morning, the Senate plan, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) were negotiating, would reopen the government through January and extend the debt ceiling until February.

Although the plan does not include large scale changes to the Affordable Care Act, which is what leaders in the U.S. House have been pushing for since the start of the partial federal government shutdown on Oct. 1, required income verification for those seeking health insurance through the federal exchanges was a possible addition.

“I think the Senate is emerging as the adults in this scenario,” said Third District Congressman Nick Rahall (D-WV).  “That includes Mitch McConnell.  He and Harry Reid have been working closely.”

A Tuesday proposal from GOP U.S. House leaders included many of the same provisions as the Senate bill.

However, the House bill would also suspend the 2.5 percent tax on medical devices, a tax created to pay for health care reforms, for two years.  The House plan would also remove subsidies for President Barack Obama and members of Congress if they seek health care coverage through the exchanges.

Negotiations were ongoing and the details of the two proposals were changing, by the hour, in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.

“This is political theater.  We all recognize that.  The tit-for-tat is continuing.  The ping pong game is continuing in order to allow (House Speaker) John Boehner to keep winking and nodding at his far right and saying, ‘I’m trying.  I’m trying, guys.  I’m trying.  I’m trying,” said Rahall.

On Tuesday’s MetroNews “Talkline,” the Congressman predicted a version of the Senate proposal would eventually get support from most House Republicans this week.

“At the final nanosecond, perhaps, Speaker Boehner will tell his right wing, ‘We tried.  We tried.  We tried.  Let’s now allow the government to reopen and allow our debt limit to be raised, perhaps only for a short term.  But let’s allow this to go through the Congress in a bipartisan fashion,'” said Rahall.





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