With Democrats seemingly unsatisfied with Republicans dropping border wall funding and adjusting on Obamacare-related items, it appears President Trump is calling Schumer's and Pelosi's bluff, proclaiming "If there's a shutdown, there's a shutdown," adding that Democrats would be to blame if the federal government was left unfunded.
Schumer today:
- *SCHUMER: TRUMP CONCESSIONS BRING SPENDING DEAL CLOSER TO FINISH
- *SCHUMER SAYS 'SOME STICKING POINTS' LEFT ON SPENDING BILL TALKS
- *SCHUMER SAYS REVISED GOP HEALTH CARE BILL 'WORSE' THAN INITIAL
- *SCHUMER SAYS ISSUE OF POISON PILL RIDERS STILL OUTSTANDING
Pelosi added:
- *HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADER PELOSI SAYS WALL FUNDING ONE ISSUE
- *PELOSI: UNCERTAINTY RE OBAMACARE COST-SHARING PAYMT ALSO ISSUE
- *PELOSI: TYING STOPGAP SPENDING TO HEALTH BILL WOULD BE STUPID
And so, as Reuters reports, President Donald Trump downplayed the severity of a potential government shutdown, making it clear who will be to blame...
"We'll see what happens. If there's a shutdown, there's a shutdown," Trump told Reuters in an interview, adding that Democrats would be to blame if the federal government was left unfunded.
Trump added that a shutdown would be a "very negative thing" but that his administration was prepared if it was necessary.
As part of the budget negotiations, Democrats have called for financial support to prop up Puerto Rico's Medicaid program covering health insurance for the poor, but many Republicans are opposed to the idea. Trump also said it would be unfair to offer a debt bailout to Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, because it was unfair to people in U.S. states.
"I don't think that's fair to the people of Iowa, and I don't think it's fair to the people of Wisconsin and Ohio and North Carolina and Pennsylvania that we should be bailing out Puerto Rico for billions and billions of dollars," Trump said. " No I don't think that's fair."
Notably, while equity markets are whistling complecentlypast the graveyard, USA sovereign risk has surged back to its highest (relative to Germany) since Trump's election as the threat of a government shutdown gets priced into a non-manipulated market...