MANHATTAN — A late night federal budget deal averted the shutdown of the national government and saved New York City from a multi-million dollar disaster.

Republicans and Democrats hammered out a compromise plan that cuts $38.5 billion in spending for the current fiscal year, which ends September 30.

It halted a shutdown that would have started at 12.01 a.m. Saturday, furloughed thousands of city workers and crippled New York's tourism industry.

Tourism chiefs were dreading the closure of national monuments, such as the Statue of Liberty, and the closure of embassies and consultates that would halt visas being issued to foreign visitors.


"Americans with different beliefs came together again," President Obama said in an address following the agreement, according to the New York Post.


Tea Party Republicans had sought $61 billion in cuts, including de-funding Planned Parenthood which they were reportedly insisting upon.

"We all know the federal budget is very complex," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, according to the Post. "The fact that Republicans made this about women's health and not about money is really a shame."

Speaker of the House John Boehner, however, denied that the GOP was prioritizing anything but curbing excess spending.

"We have no interest in shutting down the government," Boehner said, according to the Post.

The agreement comes as a relief to New York's cash-strapped city government.

The federal budget battles won't, however, be over for long. In the coming months, Congress must tackle the fiscal year 2012 budget as well as a potential increase in the nation's debt ceiling.



Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110409/manhattan/late-night-budget-deals-averts-government-shutdown-saves-new-york-millions#ixzz1J4eKREbg






Tweet