Canadian Senate moves to end postal shutdown (Reuters)

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadians could begin receiving mail again within two days after the Senate on Sunday endorsed back-to-work legislation ending the labor dispute that shut down the postal service.

The Senate held a rare weekend session to approve the government measure that was passed by the House of Commons on Saturday after a 58-hour filibuster by opposition MPs who said the bill was unfair to the workers.

Canada Post locked out the nearly 48,000 workers June 15 after more than a week of rotating strikes that the company said had caused mail deliveries to drop by nearly 50 percent.

The Conservative government said it had no choice but to intervene because contract negotiations between the company and union had failed, and a prolonged dispute posed a threat to the national economy.

Mail deliveries could resume Tuesday, officials said.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said its members will return to work as ordered, but warned that the order does not resolve the issues that lead to the dispute. It may challenge the legislation in court.

In addition to wages and pensions, the company and union are at odds over how the system should adjust to technological changes that seen customers drop traditional mail in favor of writing emails and using the Internet to pay bills.

The legislation provides for an arbitrator to pick between the offers made by the union or Canada Post, but it includes a controversial measure that sets the pay increase at less than the company had already offered the union.

If the arbitrator accepts Canada Post's offer, the company would also be allowed to offer new hires lower salaries, pensions and vacations than its existing workers now get.

(Reporting Allan Dowd, editing by Anthony Boadle)

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Germany: Hidden Fallout from Sudden Nuclear Shutdown (Time.com)

By THOMAS SCHMID / DIE WELT / WORLDCRUNCH Thomas Schmid / Die Welt / Worldcrunch – Thu Jun 2, 3:25 pm ET

This post is in partnership with Worldcrunch, a new global news site that translates stories of note in foreign languages into English. The article below was originally published in Die Welt.

BERLIN - The biggest advantage of democracy is the possibility of getting rid of governments you don't like in a peaceful way. That doesn't sound like much. Yet it sums up all the wisdom and beauty at the core of a democratic system. In a democracy, you can say A, but you can also say B, just as you can rely on the assumption that nothing has to last forever. Everything can be changed, amended, courses reversed. In short, the very life and soul of democracy is that there are always other options.

Germany's federal government is now abusing that basic rule in a scandalous way. There can be no doubt that the country needs to be looking at a smart mix of different energy sources for the future, and that developing viable alternatives to atomic power is an urgent necessity. Yet the manner in which the federal government has rushed to its decision to put a definitive stop to the use of nuclear energy by 2022 runs counter to all rules of democratic procedure. It began when, for politically motivated and tactical reasons alone, the government went back on the agreement made last fall - just seven months ago - to extend the life span of nuclear power plants. After the Japanese plant Fukushima began leaking radiation, it felt compelled to cede to public pressure by making a rapid move away from atomic power. Backtracking in the blink of an eye, the government moved so quickly partly out of fear of the Greens, and entirely without discussion or reflection. (See why the Japan nuclear crisis triggered protests in Germany.)

The Swiss Energy and Environment Minister Doris Leuthard - who had the determining vote in her government's decision not to build any more atomic power plants and to stop the use of nuclear energy by 2034 - stated: "The change needs time, but we also have time." That deliberate tone is sorely missed in Germany. From the Christian Social Union to the greenest of the republic's Greens, over the past few weeks it's as if everyone is trying to outdo everyone else in signing the death warrant on nuclear power. It's a climate that only engenders more excitability, not good sense.

Why the rush?
It is rather astonishing to see how radically the federal government has avoided examining alternative solutions on this issue. Indeed, such an evasion of a debate on the so-called Fukushima Package, which comes up for parliamentary vote on July 8, could be said to skirt legality. Hans-JUrgen Papier, a former president of Germany's Federal Constitutional Court, not known for making unconsidered remarks, called the moratorium an "illegal measure" and something that "[German Chancellor] Angela Merkel, the magician, pulled out of her hat like a rabbit a couple of days after Fukushima." There was no reaction from Berlin.

The Federal Network Agency, also not known for rash pronouncements, stated that consequences of the moratorium would be "questionable in terms of the energy industry, economically inefficient and ecologically damaging" - again, no reaction from antinuclear Berlin, which steamrolled right over it. (See why Germany is abandoning nuclear power by 2022.)

And nobody really seems to be perturbed that the body created by Merkel to wind down the use of nuclear power has impertinently been assigned the name of Ethics Commission - as if the issue at stake were an ethical one, and not one of practical and technical common sense. Supporters of atomic energy comprise a tiny minority of the 17-person commission, and within the government only the most faint voices can still be heard raising a timid "But? ..." What a wonderful victory for the robust give-and-take that nurtures democracy!

And then there's Europe. When a founding E.U. member as powerful as the Federal Republic of Germany wants the continent and the rest of the world to head down a new energy path, then it would be vital not only for that member to take the matter up at the European level, but to give it time - we need time, and we have it. Germany has shown no respect for the energy policies of other E.U. countries, and particularly no trace of consideration for the East-West split that exists in Europe over nuclear power. Instead, Germany has chosen to go it alone on this issue, assuming a kind of avant-garde, "moral high ground" role that is not always going to play well elsewhere. (See pictures of nuclear reactors.)

Sustainability also means not getting caught up in the fluster of every passing pressure. It means taking time, in the clear knowledge that a "no" to nuclear power does not constitute an answer to the complex question of how to find viable future sources of energy.

Weighing the pros and cons, hearing out the opposition, putting things in longer-term perspective: we're not seeing any of this. Instead, there is an unholy alliance between those who want to "govern without hindrance" and those who would usurp the will of both Parliament and the people in favor of morally charged environmental pressure. In a rational Germany, haste on such weighty issues should not be tolerated.

Also from Worldcrunch:

Silvio Berlusconi: Is the Magic Gone?
- La Stampa

In France, A Muslim Offensive Against Evolution
- Le Monde

Blood, Justice and Corruption: Why the Chinese Love the Death Penalty
- Economic Observer

See pictures of the death of an aging nuclear power plant.

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Note causes two-hour shutdown of military base in South Carolina

By Larry Shaughnessy, CNN Pentagon Producer STORY HIGHLIGHTSA note saying "I have a hostage" is found on a military baseThe base is shut down and searched but nothing out of the ordinary is foundThe base reopens two hours after the shutdown (CNN) -- An active-duty service member found a note Thursday afternoon at Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina that said "I have a hostage," triggering a two-hour shutdown of the base.

Within a short time after the note was discovered, security officers had locked down the entire base by 5 p.m., according to Rose Alexander, a base spokeswoman.

The office building on base where the note was found was evacuated and searched, and nothing out of the ordinary was found. Then the entire base was locked down and security ran a routine check to make sure all personnel were accounted for.

By 7 p.m., the all-clear was given and the gates were opened.

Joint Base Charleston, home to thousands of military and civilian workers, was created by the merger of Charleston Air Force Base and Naval Weapons Station Charleston. It is home to a unit of large Air Force cargo planes that are used on missions around the world. The base is still under Air Force command.

As for the note which was written on "sticky paper," it is still under investigation, Alexander said.

View the Original article

Reset Your Shutdown Clocks

-- Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in a letter to colleagues about why he is voting against a fiscal compromise package

House Republicans didn’t produce a compromise spending package to fund the government for the remaining 25 weeks of the fiscal year until 2 a.m. today.

That means that under transparency rules, the soonest that the House can have a vote on the plan is Thursday, the same day that the current stopgap measure, passed Friday night in service of the larger deal, expires.

The margins for error are shrinking.

There were no major surprises in the spending package, except for the end of a backup engine for the F-35 fighter. The $3 billion engine, produced at a plant adjacent to House Speaker John Boehner’s district, was considered protected from on high, despite opposition from Defense Secretary Robert Gates. By goring his own ox, Boehner will enhance his clout in seeking concessions from others.

But laid out in black and white, the details of the plan may cause some conservatives in the House to blanche. Policy specific cuts will be galling to some on the right

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Obama Signs Short-Term Bill Staving Off Shutdown

Associated Press

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President Obama has signed a short-term spending bill to pay for federal operations through Friday.

The measure is the first piece of a historic agreement to cut billions in spending and avoid the first government shutdown in 15 years.

Obama signed the temporary extension in private Saturday and the White House announced it with a news release.

The measure was needed to keep the government open long enough for Congress to sign off on the budget deal reached just before the midnight deadline Friday by Obama, Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

That deal keeps the government open through the remaining six months in the 2011 budget year, while cutting $38 billion.

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With Shutdown Near, Federal Workers Face Layoffs, Jobless Benefits

FoxNews.com

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If the federal government shuts down Friday night, more than 2 million federal workers across the country are facing temporary layoffs or no paychecks. Yet for the 800,000 workers who would be laid off -- deemed non-essential -- they can file for unemployment benefits.

By midday, most federal employees had been told whether they have been deemed essential or would be temporarily laid off. But exactly when they can file for benefits and the amount they receive depends on the state where they work.

Contrary to popular belief, about 85 percent of federal workers work outside of Washington. Many of them are concentrated in Maryland, Virginia, California, Texas, Florida and New York.

In Maryland, where there are 262,000 federal workers, they qualify for unemployment benefits from the first day of a shutdown, and could get a maximum of $430 a week.

Mike Raia, spokesman for the state Department of Labor, said the division has plans in place to handle additional claims.

"If the shutdown happens on Friday, there will be an application up on that site early next week, either Monday or Tuesday, that will allow federal employees to file their claim online," he said.

It takes a week for federal employees in Virginia and D.C. to qualify. The top benefit in Washington is $359, and $378 in Virginia.

There's a one-week waiting period in California, where there are 254,100 federal government workers, 62,000 of them in the Department of Defense. The top benefit is $450.

Kevin Callori, spokesman for the state Employment Development Department, told FoxNews.com that the department is not doing anything "out of the ordinary" in the event of a flood of claims due to a prolonged shutdown.

"We've gotten used to that with the current recession," he said. "We have staff available. We should be able to handle that."

New York, which has 130,000 federal workers, also said it was ready for a shutdown.

"A federal government shutdown will not impact New York's ability to disburse regular, extended and emergency unemployment benefits to claimants," Leo Rosales, spokesman for the state Department of Labor, told FoxNews.com.

In Texas, there are about 200,000 federal employees who can apply for benefits as soon as shutdown occurs. The maximum benefit is $415.

In Florida, the federal government's 175,000 workers can apply for benefits immediately. The top benefit is $275.

It's not yet clear which workers get to stay on the job during a shutdown. Under long-standing federal rules, agencies would not be affected that provide for U.S. national security, dispense most types of federal benefit payments, offer inpatient medical care or outpatient emergency care, ensure the safe use of food and drugs, manage air traffic, protect and monitor borders and coastlines, guard prisoners, conduct criminal investigations and law enforcement, oversee power distribution and oversee banks.

Mail deliveries would continue in the event of a shutdown. U.S. postal operations are not subsidized by tax dollars.

In Washington, 21,000 employees have been deemed essential and are expected to work. That includes police officers, firefighters and emergency officials as well as officials who work in public health and with school-age children. Notifications were going out Friday afternoon to employees.

Non-essential employees won't be able to come to work, volunteer or use their government-issued Blackberries.

The American Federation of Government Employees, the nation's largest federal union, filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration over the looming shutdown, arguing that ordering federal employees to work without pay during a shutdown violates the U.S. Constitution.

"Hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be required to work during a shutdown, and there's no guarantee that Congress will keep the administration's promise to pay those employees once the shutdown is over," AFGE National President John Gage said in a statement.

Capital News Service's Laura E. Lee and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Congress Strikes a Budget Deal to Avert Shutdown, Cutting $38.5B

April 8: The U.S. Capitol was seen at dusk as a government shutdown loomed Friday night in Washington. (AP)

Congressional leaders, with barely an hour to go before a federal government, announced late Friday night they had reached a deal to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year.

The deal includes $38.5 billion in spending cuts while leaving the more contention policy matters, such as blocking funding for Planned Parenthood, for a later debate.

The Senate passed a short-term spending measure Friday night to buy lawmakers the time needed to prepare and pass the final budget bill next week. The House passed the measure early Saturday, which will be signed by President Obama when he receives it, according to senior administration officials.

"This agreement between Democrats and Republicans on behalf of all Americas is a budget that invests in our future while making the largest spending cut in our history," Obama said in a short speech to the nation after the deal had been announced."Today Americans of different beliefs came together again."

Shortly after midnight, White House budget director Jacob Lew issued a memo instructing the government's departments and agencies to continue their normal operations.

Of the $38.5 billion in spending cuts to Obama's original 2011 budget proposal, the short-term stopgap measure contains the first $2 billion and the final budget bill will cut the other $36.5 billion.

Boehner said the agreement came after "a lot of discussion and a long fight," and he won an ovation from his rank and file.

"We fought to keep government spending down because it really will be a jobs creator for our country," Boehner said.

On Friday, senior administration officials said Obama made it clear to his staff that he wanted them to stay out of the limelight and let the legislative process work. He urged them to avoid making comments that would hamper a potential deal.

It was a remarkable end to a roller-coaster week of negotiations, in which the government several times seemed headed for a shutdown because the two sides couldn't agree on a full-year budget.

Obama has already signed two temporary spending bills, which included a total of $10 billion in spending cuts, but he said this week he wasn't interested in any more short-term fixes.

As late as hours before the agreement, a government shutdown seemed quite possible -- if not inevitable -- as both sides couldn't even agree, at least in public, on what was holding up a deal.

Democrats said Republicans were pushing for social policy measure, while Republicans said the Democrats hadn't agreed to enough spending cuts.

But in the end, neither side wanted a shutdown that would risk the economic recovery and their political future.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called the agreement "historic."

"Both sides have made tough choices, but tough choices is what this job is all about," Reid said.

Obama called Boehner and Reid after the announcement of the budget resolution to thank them for their work.

The government's current fiscal year began back in October, but Democrats last year, facing stiff opposition from Republicans, put off a vote on a full-year budget as both parties geared up for the midterm elections. The standoff began in earnest several weeks ago, when the new

Republican majority in the House passed legislation that would fund the government for the rest of the year, but with $61 billion in cuts and numerous curbs on the government that Democrats objected to.

In the weeks since, the two sides have alternately negotiated on a budget for the rest of the year and taken time out to pass interim measures to buy themselves more time.

Republicans originally wanted to ban federal funds for Planned Parenthood, a health care services provider that is also the nation's largest provider of abortions.

Federal funds may not be used to pay for abortions except in strictly regulated cases, but supporters of the ban said cutting off government funds for the organization -- currently about $330 million a year -- would make it harder for it to use its own money for the same purpose.

Democrats rejected the proposal in private talks. Officials in both parties said Republicans returned earlier in the week with a proposal to distribute federal funds for family planning and related health services to the states, rather than directly to Planned Parenthood and other organizations.

Democrats said they rejected that proposal as well, and Obama had vowed to veto a bill that the House passed Tuesday to fund then refused to agree to allow a separate Senate vote on the issue as part of debate over any compromise bill.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Govt Shutdown Will Affect Troops, National Parks, Social Securities And Congressional Facilities

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The deal reached between congressional leaders at white house will affect national parks, troops, post offices, congressman, social security offices and congressional facilities.
Though sky will not fall but still public has huge concerns over Federal Government’s shutdown deal. Congressional leaders agreed by midnight in White House over cutting billions of dollars funding in order to avoid the first shutdown on behalf of government in 15 years period. They have reached a short-term deal and work is continuing for agreement over a long-term deal.
All national parks like Rocks National Lakeshore, Isle Royale National Park of Michigan will close after the deal is signed by the leaders of federal government. Similarly, Post offices will continue their operations and you will be getting your mail, but their worker’s number will decrease. Just like post offices, government is also looking to decrease its expenditures on congressional facilities. In this background Huizenga, a congressman, said that he was sleeping in his room. Due to reduction in facilities, he would not be able to shave and shower on expenditures of government. But he said that troops were more important than his shave and shower.

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Government Shutdown 2011

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A U.S. was averted at the last minute Friday night after the House and Senate reached a temporary spending agreement.

The measure, which will keep the government running until Thursday, postponed an impending furlough of some 800,000 federal workers.

Friday’s “bridge” agreement calls for $39 billion in short-term spending cuts, and pushes off the contentious issue of abortion funding, which Republicans sought to block.

By Thursday, the House and Senate will schedule votes on a longer-term budget that will carry the government through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.

The news was greeted with a mixture of relief over a crisis averted, and frustration over continued wrangling that will spill into next week. And harsh rhetoric left its mark.

Throughout the afternoon leading up to the midnight deadline, Democrats said abortion funding was a crucial sticking point, as Republicans held fast to their demand to cut off Title 10 “women’s health” programs. Roughly 25 percent of Title 10 funds go to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading abortion provider.

One-third of Planned Parenthood’s annual $1.1 billion budget comes from the taxpayers, and Democrats were equally determined to keep the money flowing. Both sides reportedly agreed to vote on the issue separately next week.

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Budget agreement averts government shutdown

By Charles Dharapak, AP

President Obama discusses the federal budget after a deal was reached between Democratic and Republican lawmakers Friday.

EnlargeCloseBy Charles Dharapak, AP

President Obama discusses the federal budget after a deal was reached between Democratic and Republican lawmakers Friday.

The agreement, which must be approved by the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate next week, was accompanied by a six-day spending bill needed to fund the government beyond midnight. It's the seventh stopgap measure required since the fiscal year began in October and, at Republicans' behest, included about $2 billion of the agreed-upon cuts.

The Senate passed the funding extension late Friday, with the House following suit early Saturday morning.

"This agreement … is on a budget that invests in our future while making the largest annual spending cut in our history," Obama said from the White House, the Washington Monument purposely positioned behind him. "Today we acted on behalf of our children's future. Tomorrow, I'm pleased to announce, that the Washington Monument as well as the entire federal government will be open for business."

Republican House Speaker John Boehner still must sell the agreement to his restive troops, including scores of conservatives aligned with the Tea Party who originally wanted $61 billion in spending cuts over seven months.

"This has been a lot of discussion, and a long fight," Boehner said in a brief statement shortly before 11 p.m. ET. "We fought to keep government spending down because it really will, in fact, help create a better environment for job creators in our country."

Even as they try to put the 2011 budget behind them, Obama and congressional leaders face several more pressing fiscal issues that will dominate the rest of the year. They must try to pass an increase in the government's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by mid-May, followed by a 2012 budget and possible long-term reductions in federal entitlement programs that are fueling annual $1 trillion-plus deficits.

The last-minute agreement to fund the government through Sept. 30, however, takes the immediate pressure off lawmakers who would have faced the wrath of voters angry over the shutdown. The last time it happened in 1995-96, Republicans who had stormed to power in the 1994 elections shouldered most of the blame, and President Bill Clinton was easily re-elected.

THE OVAL: Obama, Congress strike short-term deal POLITICS BLOG: Deal reached to keep government running To reach a deal, Democrats agreed to cut about $5.5 billion more in spending than they previously had endorsed, and Republicans backed down on their effort to strip funds from Planned Parenthood. Overall, the new agreement cuts $38.5 billion from the 2011 budget, which is $78.5 billion less than Obama had originally proposed more than a year ago.

"It's been a grueling process. ... It's been very hard to arrive at this point," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said. "Both sides have had to make tough choices."

The late-night, backroom dealing created confusion even among the lawmakers. As pizzas were delivered to the White House and all over Capitol Hill, Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., mistakenly applauded on his website a deal on a stopgap funding bill that had not been announced.

In an effort to shape public opinion on a messy process that could hurt them at the polls, the two sides held a series of press conferences Friday to denounce their adversaries.

Reid accused Republicans of backing away from a deal on spending cuts in order to bar federal funds from Planned Parenthood — an issue not related to spending. By mid-afternoon, he was declaring the talks at an "impasse."

Boehner accused Democrats of refusing to cut spending enough. "We're not going to roll over and sell out the American people like has been done time and time again in Washington," he said.

Obama spoke by phone with both congressional leaders as they shuttled between meetings. He canceled a Friday trip to Indiana and a weekend family getaway to Colonial Williamsburg, Va., to work on the budget.

Tempers continued to fray throughout the day. Reid accused Boehner of kow-towing to his conservative Tea Party faction, who Reid said were "willing … to throw women under the bus even if it means shutting down the government." He urged Republican leaders to "snap out of it."

Without a deal, "It will be crystal clear to Americans that Democrats were reasonable and Republicans are responsible for shutting down the government," Reid said.

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement that the issue goes beyond abortion rights: "It's an outrage to shut down the government over an extreme proposal that would deny millions of women Pap tests, breast cancer screenings and birth control," she said.

Boehner and other Republicans said the problem was that Democrats didn't want to cut enough money from the budget. But it was clear that abortion lurked in the background.

"It is extraordinary that the president sees federal funding for the nation's number-one abortion provider as more important than paychecks for federal workers and funding for our military," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which opposes abortions.

The issues not only include the amount of money to cut from the budget, but which specific programs to cut. Few details were available Friday night on the breakdown between domestic and defense programs.

If a deal had not been reached, all non-essential operations of the government would have been shut down. That included national parks and forests, museums and monuments — including those in Washington during its annual Cherry Blossom Festival.

An estimated 800,000 federal employees would have been furloughed, troops on the battlefield would not have been paid, and a variety of services would have been curtailed, ranging from paper income tax returns to federal mortgage loans and District of Colombia trash collection.

Even with the last-minute deal, there were casualties. The State Department canceled Saturday's planned "Passport Day in the USA," when U.S. citizens could have gotten passports without an appointment.

Ironically, the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta announced it was closed "due to a federal government shutdown." And the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin said in the event of a shutdown, "we will not be able to tweet."

Contributing: Fredreka Schouten, Catalina Camia and Richard Wolf

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters

View the Original article

Budget agreement averts government shutdown

By Charles Dharapak, AP

President Obama discusses the federal budget after a deal was reached between Democratic and Republican lawmakers Friday.

EnlargeCloseBy Charles Dharapak, AP

President Obama discusses the federal budget after a deal was reached between Democratic and Republican lawmakers Friday.

The agreement, which must be approved by the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate next week, was accompanied by a six-day spending bill needed to fund the government beyond midnight. It's the seventh stopgap measure required since the fiscal year began in October and, at Republicans' behest, included about $2 billion of the agreed-upon cuts.

The Senate passed the funding extension late Friday, with the House following suit early Saturday morning.

"This agreement … is on a budget that invests in our future while making the largest annual spending cut in our history," Obama said from the White House, the Washington Monument purposely positioned behind him. "Today we acted on behalf of our children's future. Tomorrow, I'm pleased to announce, that the Washington Monument as well as the entire federal government will be open for business."

Republican House Speaker John Boehner still must sell the agreement to his restive troops, including scores of conservatives aligned with the Tea Party who originally wanted $61 billion in spending cuts over seven months.

"This has been a lot of discussion, and a long fight," Boehner said in a brief statement shortly before 11 p.m. ET. "We fought to keep government spending down because it really will, in fact, help create a better environment for job creators in our country."

Even as they try to put the 2011 budget behind them, Obama and congressional leaders face several more pressing fiscal issues that will dominate the rest of the year. They must try to pass an increase in the government's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by mid-May, followed by a 2012 budget and possible long-term reductions in federal entitlement programs that are fueling annual $1 trillion-plus deficits.

The last-minute agreement to fund the government through Sept. 30, however, takes the immediate pressure off lawmakers who would have faced the wrath of voters angry over the shutdown. The last time it happened in 1995-96, Republicans who had stormed to power in the 1994 elections shouldered most of the blame, and President Bill Clinton was easily re-elected.

THE OVAL: Obama, Congress strike short-term deal POLITICS BLOG: Deal reached to keep government running To reach a deal, Democrats agreed to cut about $5.5 billion more in spending than they previously had endorsed, and Republicans backed down on their effort to strip funds from Planned Parenthood. Overall, the new agreement cuts $38.5 billion from the 2011 budget, which is $78.5 billion less than Obama had originally proposed more than a year ago.

"It's been a grueling process. ... It's been very hard to arrive at this point," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said. "Both sides have had to make tough choices."

The late-night, backroom dealing created confusion even among the lawmakers. As pizzas were delivered to the White House and all over Capitol Hill, Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., mistakenly applauded on his website a deal on a stopgap funding bill that had not been announced.

In an effort to shape public opinion on a messy process that could hurt them at the polls, the two sides held a series of press conferences Friday to denounce their adversaries.

Reid accused Republicans of backing away from a deal on spending cuts in order to bar federal funds from Planned Parenthood — an issue not related to spending. By mid-afternoon, he was declaring the talks at an "impasse."

Boehner accused Democrats of refusing to cut spending enough. "We're not going to roll over and sell out the American people like has been done time and time again in Washington," he said.

Obama spoke by phone with both congressional leaders as they shuttled between meetings. He canceled a Friday trip to Indiana and a weekend family getaway to Colonial Williamsburg, Va., to work on the budget.

Tempers continued to fray throughout the day. Reid accused Boehner of kow-towing to his conservative Tea Party faction, who Reid said were "willing … to throw women under the bus even if it means shutting down the government." He urged Republican leaders to "snap out of it."

Without a deal, "It will be crystal clear to Americans that Democrats were reasonable and Republicans are responsible for shutting down the government," Reid said.

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement that the issue goes beyond abortion rights: "It's an outrage to shut down the government over an extreme proposal that would deny millions of women Pap tests, breast cancer screenings and birth control," she said.

Boehner and other Republicans said the problem was that Democrats didn't want to cut enough money from the budget. But it was clear that abortion lurked in the background.

"It is extraordinary that the president sees federal funding for the nation's number-one abortion provider as more important than paychecks for federal workers and funding for our military," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which opposes abortions.

The issues not only include the amount of money to cut from the budget, but which specific programs to cut. Few details were available Friday night on the breakdown between domestic and defense programs.

If a deal had not been reached, all non-essential operations of the government would have been shut down. That included national parks and forests, museums and monuments — including those in Washington during its annual Cherry Blossom Festival.

An estimated 800,000 federal employees would have been furloughed, troops on the battlefield would not have been paid, and a variety of services would have been curtailed, ranging from paper income tax returns to federal mortgage loans and District of Colombia trash collection.

Even with the last-minute deal, there were casualties. The State Department canceled Saturday's planned "Passport Day in the USA," when U.S. citizens could have gotten passports without an appointment.

Ironically, the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta announced it was closed "due to a federal government shutdown." And the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin said in the event of a shutdown, "we will not be able to tweet."

Contributing: Fredreka Schouten, Catalina Camia and Richard Wolf

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters

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Shutdown drama: Who's to blame?

A Capitol policewoman walks through the empty Rotunda. STORY HIGHLIGHTSWilliam Bennett: Was President Obama serious about bringing deficits under control?Paul Begala: Democrats, independents want compromise; most Republicans don'tRuben Navarrette: The dispute isn't about Planned Parenthood but about levels of spendingSteven Taylor: If agreement can't be reached on these relatively small cuts, what next? (CNN) -- A last-minute agreement averted a government shutdown late Friday, but analysts say the high-stakes standoff revealed persistent issues that Washington still must address. CNN Opinion asked a number of regular contributors and guests for their views.

David Frum, a weekly columnist for CNN and former special assistant to President George W. Bush, is the editor of FrumForum

Obviously this is no way to run a railroad. Still - the train did not crash.

The deal to avert a government shutdown is a story of good news and bad news.

Good news:

The dealmakers in both parties have prevailed over the confrontationalists in both parties. Speaker John Boehner persuaded his Republican Congress to accept "yes" for an answer. President Obama resisted the temptation to entrap the Republicans in a shutdown that would almost certainly have hurt the GOP more than it would have hurt him.

Good news:

If Republicans and Democrats flinched from a government shut down, they will certainly flinch from the much more catastrophic consequences of failing to raise the debt ceiling in May. We can reduce the worry level about a politically forced default on the national debt.

Good news:

Washington is beginning to think seriously about restraining the growth of the public debt. Notice I said "begin." We're going to need better answers than we have heard so far, but at least the answers are starting. Somebody tweeted this evening about the paradox of a liberal president hailing budget cuts. But even liberal presidents have to worry about a excess debt - and the signs are there that Obama does worry.

Bad news:

The debate dramatizes how completely budget policy has displaced economic policy in Washington debate. Tonight's action may help stabilize federal finances. But even economists who support spending cuts will acknowledge that the immediate effect of cuts is to subtract demand from the economy. A strongly growing economy can sustain and benefit from this demand-subtraction. The US economy in 2011 is not a strongly growing economy. Yet how much time has the new Congress spent debating ideas to accelerate growth?

More bad news:

The 2011 budget was due in the spring of 2010. Despite control of both houses of Congress, the Democrats irresponsibly failed to enact a budget while they could. We will resume debating temporary funding of the government next week--and then seamlessly move into still fiercer battles over the budget for 2012. The most important and difficult decisions still await.

Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and CNN political contributor, was a political consultant for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign in 1992 and was counselor to Clinton in the White House. He is an affiliated professor at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute:

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Workers watch clock as shutdown nears

A government shutdown would mean delays in getting a passport. STORY HIGHLIGHTSGovernment employees nervously watch the clock as shutdown nearsCongressional leaders differ on what's behind the stalemateWhile parks and other services will close, essential services will remain openSocial Security and Medicare payments will continue Washington (CNN) -- Federal workers nervously eyed the clock and an American public sharply divided along partisan lines watched from the sidelines Friday as Democrats and Republicans sniped at one another in a budget battle that could shut down the government and idle more than 800,000 people.

Negotiators have until midnight Friday to reach an agreement, or the government's massive gears will begin grinding to a halt.

What would be shut down?

Should the government shut down, operations from national parks to the White House visitor center would close. Even some government websites would blink out, replaced by virtual closed signs.

CNNMoney: I'm a 'nonessential' worker

But not everything would close.

10 things that could ruin your day

Essential services such as defense, air traffic control and law enforcement would continue largely unabated, as would Social Security enrollments and payments. The Social Security Administration said a backlog of applications would be crippling. Veterans Administration hospitals and clinics, already funded through the end of the year, would also remain open.

The upside of a shutdown

Medicare payments would also continue, as would health benefits for government employees. Electronically filed tax returns would be processed. And although paper returns wouldn't be reviewed, a shutdown wouldn't equal a tax holiday -- returns would still be due April 18.

The government estimates that 800,000 federal government employees would be sent home to anxiously await an agreement in what could become a lengthy, and unpaid, vacation. Even those who are asked to work wouldn't get paid until after the shutdown ends, and that could include U.S. troops fighting overseas.

Shutdown would mean no income for military

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Lawmakers Weigh Giving Up Paychecks if Shutdown Forces Federal Furlough

AP

Sen. Joe Manchin listens to testimony on Capitol Hill March 29 during a hearing on Libya.

With Congress headed for a shutdown unless a spending deal is reached, lawmakers are trying to make this failure of governance seem a tad less offensive to everyday Americans by vowing to give back part of their $174,000 paychecks. 

The fact that hundreds of thousands of federal workers could be furloughed while, by law, the members of Congress who caused the problem would continue to get paid is a cruel twist in the mechanics of a shutdown. In response, lawmakers have floated several ideas for docking their own pay. 

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who is independently wealthy, told Fox News he already gives his salary away to charity. But regardless of economic station, he urged his colleagues to follow suit and turn away their paychecks if the government shuts down. 

"Members should not be saying, 'Well, I need my money when in fact other federal workers aren't getting it," Issa said. 

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. -- who also is a millionaire, though he accepts a congressional paycheck -- plans to either decline pay or donate it to charity if there's a shutdown, a spokesman told FoxNews.com. 

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., said she will donate her pay to a nonprofit serving military families.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., made a similar pledge, passing around a letter to colleagues Thursday urging them to join him in returning their paychecks. 

"The bottom line is this: I can't imagine that the President, Vice President or any Member of Congress -- Republican or Democrat -- thinks they should get paid when the government has shut down," Manchin wrote. 

Not everyone's signing on. 

On the House side, Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., told MSNBC she can't afford it. 

"I have to tell you that I live paycheck to paycheck, like most Americans," she said, explaining that she has student loans, a 2-year-old son and residences on both coasts. "It's very difficult for me to say, 'Hey, I can give up my paycheck,' because the reality is, I have financial obligations that I have to meet on a month-to-month basis that doesn't make it possible for me. 

"Now if you're a member of Congress who is a millionaire, and there are quite a few members of the House and Senate that are, it's really not a problem for them," she added. 

Some lawmakers have tried to require that members of Congress don't get paid in the event of a shutdown. 

"They shouldn't be getting paid. Just like federal employees shouldn't be getting paid," House Speaker John Boehner told ABC News. 

But there are political and constitutional hurdles. 

The Senate already passed a Democrat-authored bill to block congressional salaries last month. But the House did not follow. 

"If Speaker Boehner were really serious about preventing members of Congress from being paid during a government shutdown, he would immediately pass our 'no budget, no pay' bill," Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said in a statement Thursday. 

Yet Democrats also will not take up a Republican version of the congressional no-pay bill -- one which was connected to a House budget bill cutting $61 billion which Democrats roundly oppose. 

Not only will neither chamber pass the other's no-pay bill, but the 27th Amendment to the Constitution provides that laws changing congressional pay don't take effect until the following term. 

Issa noted this concern, as did Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del. But Coons said the Constitution wouldn't prevent lawmakers from volunteering to give up their pay. 

"There is a constitutional issue here. We might have to voluntarily give back our pay in the event of a shutdown. But I think the pain here ought to be spread broadly," Coons told Fox News. "The average folks out there watching this ought to know that we in Washington get it, that a shutdown is an embarrassing failure on our part to do the job we were hired to come here and do." 

Dan Weiser, spokesman for the chief administrative officer of the House, said members of Congress have to receive their paychecks by law, but that, if they don't give them to charity, they can also use them to pay down the national debt. However, The Washington Post reported last month that just a few lawmakers have gotten in the habit of doing that, and that donations from Congress to the debt totaled just $15,000 in 2010. 

Meanwhile, the Obama administration is urging Congress to make sure federal workers get back-pay in the event of a shutdown, even though they would not be paid during the shutdown itself. 

Jeffrey Zients, deputy director in the White House Office of Management and Budget, noted that furloughed employees were ultimately paid retroactively following the 1995 shutdown, and urged Congress to make sure they are reimbursed should the government shut down this weekend.

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Congressional Blame Game Begins Before Government Shutdown Starts

FoxNews.com

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As a potential federal government shutdown looms, there are parallel efforts underway -- one to figure out how to reach an agreement, and another to cast blame in case there isn't one.

And as both parties focused on a temporary measure to avoid a shutdown, lawmakers were already pointing fingers.

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Shutdown could mean trash dumped at Boehner's house

A Facebook page has been launched aimed at getting people to dump their garbage at the Ohio Republican's pad in Washington, D.C. Trash pickup is among the services that would be halted in the District of Columbia, whose funding is tied to congressional approval.

"If he won't allow us to use OUR TAX DOLLARS to pick it up, maybe we should just BRING IT TO HIM," the page says.

More than 5,000 people have checked out the Facebook page and 546 people -- presumably those who live in the District of Columbia or nearby -- are listed as a "maybe" to actually "attend" the dumping of trash.

The federal government will shut down at midnight tonight if Congress and the White House cannot reach a deal on funding the government for the remainder of the fiscal year.

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From military to parks, U.S. workers brace for shutdown

By Sue Ogrocki, AP

Justin Castro, a National Park Service employee at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, faces an uncertain future if the government shuts down.

EnlargeCloseBy Sue Ogrocki, AP

Justin Castro, a National Park Service employee at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, faces an uncertain future if the government shuts down.

About 800,000 federal government workers would be affected by a shutdown. From the Statue of Liberty and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to military families that depend on paychecks, government furloughs as a result of a shutdown would have a major effect on everyday life.

The threat to U.S. troops' paychecks has rattled military families and others sympathetic to young soldiers, sailors, air crews and Marines fighting distant wars. The military issue has escalated the political feud in Washington.

On Friday, Republicans and Democrats clashed over the budget as President Obama canceled a trip to Indianapolis and spoke in separate phone calls with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker John Boehner.

Boehner said spending cuts — not social issues — were blocking a deal to prevent a shutdown at midnight. Reid said the only hang-up was Republican demand to cut a federal program that provides women's health and family planning services.

The House approved a resolution by Republicans to fund the military through the end of the fiscal year. But the White House threatened to block it, calling the measure a "distraction from the real work that would bring us closer to a reasonable compromise."

In Iraq on Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told troops that if the government closes their next paycheck would be for half the normal amount and they wouldn't receive a check at all the following pay period, if the shutdown continued. Gates told them they could expect to get paid eventually for all of their work.

Krystel Spell, 29, of Spring Lake, N.C., is a military spouse who runs the website Armywife101.com. She has been flooded with questions from visitors to her website.

"We hear so much, 'We support our troops, we support our troops' … but the very backbone, the people that are protecting us, aren't going to get paid," she said. "Everybody said this isn't a political thing. This is people's livelihoods."

Marine Maj. Andrew Hesterman, 42, of Scotts Valley, Calif., who returned from Afghanistan a week ago, said he has heard troops voicing concern about a shutdown for about two months.

"You've left your wife and kid at home to fend for themselves, sort of," Hesterman said. "It makes you think that this employer can't take care of me while I'm away, so why do I want to work for them? It's tough on all servicemembers, especially the younger, less financially stable guys."

"We rely on the government for our paycheck," said Megan Bilotta, 32, a military spouse with 7-week-old twins who has been cutting back on expenses like eating out in preparation for a possible government shutdown. "We're a one-income family now that we have children, and if we don't get paid, I don't know what we're going to do."

More than 100 federal employees facing no paychecks protested outside a federal building in Chicago this week with signs that said, "Don't Punish the Public" and "Banks got bailed out, we got sold out."

"I've sent an e-mail to my mortgage company asking if I can delay payment for the next month, and gotten no response," said Julie Sidlo, one of the protesters and an Environmental Protection Agency accountant who endured the last government shutdown in the 1990s. "I don't know if I can file for unemployment," adding that she has set money aside for several weeks.

The shutdown would mean the IRS would not process paper tax returns, U.S. citizens in foreign countries could get passports only from their embassies in emergencies, and dozens of schools that the Bureau of Indian Affairs oversees could be closed, said former BIA assistant secretary Carl Artman.

"There would be a significant financial impact on our daily operations and the (tribal) council would have to make some tough decisions," said Robert McDonald, a spokesman for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes in Montana. "Our director of social services is very concerned about the services he could provide."

Officials on the Navajo Nation, the country's largest Indian reservation, said the tribe receives two-thirds of its money from the federal government to support jails, police force, social services and other programs.

The tribe said it would have enough money to run those programs for about a month, but anything longer would be more difficult.

Justin Castro, a park service worker at the Oklahoma City Bombing National Memorial, said "not having a check means not paying rent and not paying bills that need to be paid."

All National Park sites, including the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York Harbor, which draw 5 million visitors a year, would close. Ferries that run to the islands from Lower Manhattan and from New Jersey would be suspended, and most of the 140 park service employees on the island would not report to work — except for one.

"I can assure the American people, Lady Liberty is never alone," said Darren Boch, park department spokesman. "But it will be lonely without 10,000 people walking around at her feet."

As many as 15,000 people a day visit the Statue of Liberty, said Elizabeth Carmody, marketing director for Statue Cruises, which operates the ferries to the islands. Tickets to go inside the statue and up to the crown — which are limited — are already sold-out for Saturday and Sunday, Carmody said. Shut-out customers can get a refund of the $13 ticket price or take a sightseeing cruise of the harbor instead.

But the cruise line is scrambling because its ticket offices are located inside Castle Clinton, the historic fort owned by the park service that is located in Manhattan's Battery Park. If the government shuts down Saturday, so does Castle Clinton, and the company won't have access to its offices.

Carmody said the company plans to move the ferries so passengers can board without walking through the fort, and sell tickets on the dock.

"(Friday) we're packing the boats up with tables and cash registers and cash," Carmody says. "We've been trying to figure out Plan B."

About half of all employees of the Department of Health and Human Services would be furloughed if the government shuts down. The department includes the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and they must have staff on hand to deal with imminent threats to human safety or property.

The CDC will continue to monitor diseases on a limited basis, but much of that work is done by local jurisdictions and hospitals, which will continue to collect information and report it to the federal agency. If necessary, the CDC could call furloughed employees back to work to deal with pressing public health problems, such as an illness outbreak. But such CDC activities as disease prevention and health promotion would be put on hold during the furlough.

During a shutdown, the FDA would still deal with public health emergencies related to pharmaceuticals or medical devices. And although random food inspections would be curtailed significantly, the agency would continue food safety activities such as monitoring foods imported from Japan and other countries.

At the NIH as well as the CDC and FDA, workers will continue to care for lab animals. However, research will be put on hold, including seven studies scheduled to begin next week at the NIH's main campus in Bethesda, Md.

In addition, ongoing studies will not admit new patients. As of late Thursday afternoon, it wasn't clear how a government shutdown would affect NIH websites, hotlines and clearinghouses.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, is also part of the Health and Human Services Department. CMS can dip into the Medicare trust fund in case of a shortfall in discretionary dollars, although an unexpectedly long shutdown would drain it. States have already received their federal Medicaid funding for the third quarter of the fiscal year, which runs through June, so there shouldn't be any immediate issues with that program.

Around the country:

•Located on the threshold of Zion National Park, the town of Springdale, Utah, would essentially go dark if the government shuts down. About 80% of Springdale's annual budget comes from sales tax — most of which is generated by national park visitors, said town Manager Rick Wixom. "I'm the last in and the first out," said Steve Johnson, night host at Springdale's Bit and Spur restaurant "I probably wouldn't be working for a while."

•Fifty eighth-graders from the Albert D. Lawton School in Essex Junction, Vt., are hoping a shutdown can be avoided, or at least that it ends quickly. The group is planning to head by bus to Washington during their spring break, April 16-21.

"The students have been fundraising all year," said history teacher Peter Gustafson about the $800-per-person trip, which includes visits to the White House, Mount Vernon, the Smithsonian, Pentagon and other key spots.¶

Contributing: Martha Moore in New York City; Rita Rubin in McLean, Va.; Ed Kociela, The (St. George, Utah) Spectrum; Terri Hallenbeck and Mike Donoghue, The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press; the Associated Press

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Reid blames possible shutdown on Tea Party's 'extreme social agenda'

Update at 11:21 a.m. ET: Senate Majority Harry Reid, speaking on the Senate floor, said an agreement had been reached on spending cuts, but that the issue of women's health, a reference to the dispute over funding Planned Parenthood, was the sticking point.

Reid said "now the Tea Party among others, they are the biggest push, is trying to push its extreme social agenda, issues that have nothing to do with funding the bill."

More from our colleagues at On Politics and The Oval.

Earlier post: Only hours before a possible government shutdown, House Speaker John Boehner indicated no agreement had been reached, saying that Senate Democrats should do "the responsible thing" and pass the House budget bill.

"When will the White House and Senate Democrats get serious about cutting spending?" the Ohio Republican said.

Only moments later, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor, "We're very hopeful we can reach agreement on the budget today."

Reid told reporters earlier today that both sides had agreed on a spending cut of $38 billion, but that a fight over federal dollars for Planned Parenthood is blocking a deal. Boehner's aides have denied that.

Boehner and Reid failed to reach a breakthrough during their meeting late Thursday with President Obama at the White House.

Obama had called upon both sides to give him a response this morning on whether they could bridge their differences and avoid a shutdown.

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Sen. Manchin urges Congress to skip pay in shutdown

PreviousBoehner: We were closer to a budget deal last night

NextVa.'s George Allen assumes black reporter played sports

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Reid says government shutdown is likely

No agreement reached to avoid shutdownSTORY HIGHLIGHTSCongressional staffers have started to receive furlough noticesSenate Majority Leader Reid says he's pessimistic about the prospects for a budget dealPresident Obama is set to meet with Reid and Boehner again at the White HouseWithout an agreement, the federal government will shut down after Friday Washington (CNN) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated Thursday that there is likely to be a government shutdown at the end of the week -- an outcome the Nevada Democrat blamed wholly on his Republican colleagues.

"It looks like it's headed in that direction," Reid said on the Senate floor when discussing the possibility of a shutdown. "The numbers are basically there, but I am not as nearly as optimistic -- and that's an understatement -- as I was" after a meeting Wednesday night with President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, at the White House.

Boehner disagreed with Reid's assessment of the numbers, declaring that there is "no agreement on numbers and no agreement on the underlying policies."

Reid said later that he was starting to question whether Boehner really wanted a deal.

If there is no deal by midnight Friday, when the current spending authorization measure expires, parts of the government will close down.

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