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U.S. gender wage gap grows for the first time in a decade; Trump has embraced NC's Mark Robinson, calling him 'Martin Luther King on steroids; Volunteers sought as early voting kicks off in MN; Women's political contributions in congressional races fall short of men's.

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Rising threats of political violence, a Federal Reserve rate cut, crypto industry campaign contributions and reproductive rights are shaping today's political landscape.

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A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

Budget Fights Could Turn Into Shutdown Standoffs

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Monday, October 5, 2015   

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A federal government shutdown has been delayed at least until December, but a number of budget fights remain.

A temporary agreement over funds for Planned Parenthood delayed the shutdown, but battles over automatic spending cuts and a federal debt limit are warming up.

Lindsay Koshgarian, research director of the budget watchdog group National Priorities Project, says those could turn into shutdown standoffs. And the Planned Parenthood issue could return.

"It sounds too crazy to be true, but there are about 30 members of the House of Representatives who have said that it is so important to them to completely defund Planned Parenthood, that they would be willing to shut down the entire federal government to get that," she states.

Koshgarian says Planned Parenthood gets only a tiny portion of the budget and it isn't the only issue where the budget deadlines have been used for leverage – issues that include immigration and health care reform.

The tactic led to a 17-day shutdown in 2013. Standard and Poors says that shutdown cost the U.S. economy an estimated $24 billion.

Koshgarian says a two-year agreement over automatic spending cuts known as sequestration has expired. She says that threatens funding for the military, education, highway and bridge repair.

And she says if Congress doesn't raise the federal debt limit, money for everything could dry up.

"But that's expected to happen sometime over the next month or two,” she adds. “If that does happen, that would mean the federal government would be unable to borrow any more money, and that could also result in a shutdown of a lot of essential government services."

Critics say using the budget for leverage creates a self-inflicted crisis. They say there are issues Congress should be dealing with – such as a highway trust fund that's running out of money.

Plus, Koshgarian says, Arkansas is vulnerable to a shutdown because its citizens get a lot from federal services for vets and the elderly. And a surprising number of federal employees live here.

"Arkansas has about 39,000 federal government employees, and they earn about 5 percent of all wages in the state,” he explains. “So as you can imagine, it would affect not just those workers, it would also affect the state economy."





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