Obama cancels trip over shutdown standoff, says Najib: SEPANG, Oct 2 — US President Barack Obama has cancelled his visit to Malaysia after the US government suffered a partial shutdown due to a standoff over the country’s budget, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. The prime minister said his US counterpart called him personally to convey the news this morning. “The situation was very unexpected and unforeseen, but I empathise and understand. If I were in his shoes, I would do the same,” he said, referring to the US budget crisis. Obama was initially scheduled to go on a tour of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia next week, with the highlight of his Malaysia visit being the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Over 800,000 Americans face the bleak reality of having no livelihood, as the US Congress goes through its first day after missing the country’s budget deadline. The Democrat-led Senate failed to pass the budget, as the Republican wing demanded that the federal government impose a one-year delay on the implementation of comprehensive healthcare reforms, dubbed Obamacare. Najib said Obama conveyed his regret over the cancellation, and that the United States values Malaysia’s contributions over the many years of bilateral relations between the two nations. “Though he cannot go ahead with his visit to Malaysia, he told me that he still wants to visit Malaysia in the future. I believe that can be arranged when the timing is better,” said the prime minister. When asked about the impact of the US Senate crisis, Najib said it should not have any immediate effect on the global economy as it is currently confined to the United States’ domestic arena. “There would be more serious consequences on October 17 if they do not review their debt ceiling, as this will affect the US economy and certainly impact the global and Malaysian economies,” he said. Obama is expected to make a decision by mid-October on whether or not the US federal government will raise its debt ceiling - which would indicate whether his administration will borrow more money to pay for the many policies and programmes promised by the government, or slash spending on the very same policies and programmes. Any attempt to raise the debt ceiling, however, is expected to meet with stiff opposition as House Republicans have said clearly that they will not agree to it unless it is attached to a one-year delay of the Obamacare law. dlvr.it/44553n
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 08:06:43 +0000
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