(April
5, 2011)
In
order to further improve the lines of communication and to respond to the
concerns between the National VA Council and you our members, I have
established a National VA Council Briefing. This NVAC Briefing will bring
you the latest news and developments within DVA and provide you with the
current status of issues this Council is currently addressing. I believe
that this NVAC Briefing will greatly enhance the way in which we communicate
and the way in which we share new information, keeping you better informed.
Alma
L. Lee
National
VA Council, President
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In
This Briefing: Obama
calls Hill leaders to White House for talks on avoiding shutdown
President
Obama is calling congressional leaders to the White House on Tuesday to try
and forge a last-ditch deal on a spending plan to avert a federal government
shutdown at midnight Friday.
White
House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama's face-to-face meeting with House
Speaker Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,
and others is being called because "time is of the essence."
A
spokesman for Boehner confirmed the invitation. "The speaker hopes to
meet with the president to discuss the need to keep the government open
while making real cuts in spending, and we're working with the White House
to schedule that meeting," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.
House
Republicans, Senate Democrats, and the White House have been negotiating a
deal that would fund the remainder of the fiscal year while cutting about
$33 billion from current spending levels. The parties are still deciding
what to cut to get to that level of reduction, Democrats have said.
Much
of the uncertainty about the prospects for a deal seems to hinge on whether
Boehner can convince enough members of his own conference to vote for a bill
in which the proposed cuts are so much smaller than those already passed by
the House. The GOP funding bill cuts $61 billion from current levels.
What
Boehner will be able to offer from his side at Tuesday's White House meeting
will hinge on the outcome of discussions planned for Monday night with the
House Republican conference. Hard-liners in the House GOP have continued to
press for nothing less than a spending plan that cuts $61 billion from
current levels.
Tuesday's
meeting also will come on the day House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis.,
is to unveil a fiscal 2012 budget plan that would cut at least $4 trillion
from the deficit over the next 10 years, reshape Medicare, and change
Medicaid into a program of block grants to the states. But it's the lack of
a spending plan for the remaining months of fiscal 2011 that is likely to
dominate attention at the meeting.
Obama
spoke by telephone with Boehner and Reid on Saturday, urging them to reach a
deal and underscoring that a shutdown would hurt the economy. Other
lawmakers expected to be at Tuesday's meeting with Boehner and Reid are
House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., and Senate
Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii.
But
whether Congress can reach a compromise funding deal by the Friday night
deadline remains uncertain.