In Washington, the government shutdown continues with no resolution in sight.
Alaska Congressman Don Young says the latest House proposal is going nowhere. It would have funded the government and raised the debt ceiling but included changes to Obamacare.
Young believes a solution will come from the Senate. He predicts House Speaker John Boehner will put it up for a vote, and if that happens, Young says he’ll support it, despite objections from the right flank of the House Republicans.
“It’s not Boehner’s fault,” Young said. “I mean a lot of people blame the speaker but this is more than that.”
“This is a very large group of individuals who very frankly don’t want anything to pass and that’s what you have to deal with.”
Young also says the minute-by-minute news reporting makes this impasse tougher to resolve than budget battles in decades past.
“This is a case where we’re overexposed and it’s hard for people to back down,” he said. “Egos are involved in this, and yet they know there’s a problem.”
Among the casualties of the shutdown is the Bering Sea crab fishery. It was supposed to open today, but the federal workers who issue the annual permits were on furlough.
Young says he wants to change U.S. fisheries law to take that office out of the process in future years.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
