Obama: Shutdown worse for economy
President Barack Obama has criticised Republican threats to shut down the US government if he and the Democrats refuse to delay his healthcare law or strip it of funding.
"This is an area where lots of people would be badly hurt by a government shutdown," Mr Obama said in Maryland, right outside Washington DC. "A lot of people around here wake up and go to serve their country every single day in the federal government."
And he questioned what kind of politicians would threaten to shut down the US government in order to block people from gaining access to healthcare.
The federal government will partially cease operations on 1 October if Republicans and Democrats do not agree to a temporary budget to maintain its funding. Meanwhile, major provisions of the healthcare law known to both sides as "Obamacare" are set to take effect the same day.
26 Sep 2013
- From the section US & Canada