Spurred on by US President Barack Obama, lawmakers yesterday dove into a frantic beat-the-clock weekend effort to avert a debt default that could plunge the world economy into recession.
In a grim warning of what may come if there is no breakthrough by the midnight Tuesday deadline, US markets fell for a fifth straight day on Friday — a month of gains wiped out in a week because of poor US growth and the political stalemate.
Obama tried to inject a note of optimism to deadlocked Washington early yesterday, insisting in his radio address that there were significant areas of agreement between Democrats and Republicans.
“Look, the parties are not that far apart here,” the president said.
However, he pointed out that any solution to avoid default must be bipartisan.
“It must have the support of both parties that were sent here to represent the American people — not just one faction of one party,” he said.
However, agreement seemed to elude sharply divided lawmakers. The Republican-held House of Representatives late on Friday passed Speaker John Boehner’s bill to avert a default, but within two hours it had been rejected by 59-41 votes in the Democrat-led Senate.
Twenty-two House Republicans joined all 188 Democrats voting against Boehner’s legislation, while 218 Republicans backed it — eking out the 216 votes needed for passage.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he hoped Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell would now help work out a final deal — the outlines of which were far from clear with the clock ticking down.
White House spokesman Jay Carney derided the House vote as “a political exercise” and pressed lawmakers to “start working together immediately to reach a compromise” that avoids default, while reining in the galloping US deficit.
McConnell accused Democrats of “ginning up opposition to everything” Republicans offer — but said: “I eagerly await the majority leader’s plan for preventing this crisis.”
A key sticking point was the duration of any debt limit increase: Reid rejected Boehner’s plan in large part because it would set the stage for another high-stakes showdown in a few months.
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)