Threat of shutdown looms

WASHINGTON - In a deepening struggle over spending, Republicans and Democrats swapped charges Thursday over a possible government shutdown when money runs out March 4 for most federal agencies.

"Read my lips: We're going to cut spending," declared House Speaker John Boehner. Sharply raising the stakes in a war of wills with Democrats, he pledged that the GOP-controlled House would refuse to approve even a short-term measure at current funding levels to keep the government operating.

Democrats say such drastic cuts would harm the fragile economic recovery. The White House has already threatened to veto it, and Senate Democrats have voiced strong objections. Senate Democrats are expected to put forward a temporary extension of the stopgap measure that would prevent a shutdown and allow negotiations.

But Boehner accused Democrats of seeking to shut the government to avoid making cuts.

Democrats have been warning for weeks that Republicans were willing to risk a shutdown by insisting on steep cuts without being willing to compromise. "It is unproductive to resort to threats of a shutdown with any negotiations," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

If Reid puts forward a temporary extension of the stopgap measure, Senate Republicans would have to make a choice between blocking the bill with a filibuster or letting it pass and leaving their counterparts in the House to decide on shutting the government. Republicans were blamed for such a shutdown in 1995 during a standoff with the Clinton administration.

The sparring occurred as the House labored to complete work on legislation to cut more than $61 billion from the budget year. It would keep the government operating until Sept. 30.

Meanwhile, Boehner opened a second front. To underscore the budget-cutting commitment by the 87 conservative new members of his rank and file, he said Republicans would move quickly this spring on companion legislation to cut "wasteful mandatory spending" by the federal government.

He provided no details, but party officials said they expected the effort to begin shortly after the House returns from next week's recess.

Working through dozens of amendments, the House voted 244-181 to block the FCC from implementing "network neutrality" regulations. The rules prohibit phone and cable companies from discriminating against Internet services that may compete with their core operations.

Republicans led the way on a 250-177 vote to stop the EPA from imposing limits on mercury pollution from cement factories. Supporters said the new rules would send U.S. jobs overseas, where air quality standards are more lax.

At 359 pages, the bill seeks to eliminate the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps and Senior Corps and has a $1 billion budget, and funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would also be wiped out, at $86 million.