"here we are today, days away from a possible government shutdown which could affect hundreds of thousands of workers' jobs."
"some of the Tea Party Republicans have stood up and blocked these bipartisan negotiations between the House and the Senate."
"what we have seen recently from a minority of extreme Republicans is really deeply disappointing and harmful."
"They held the economy hostage over the debt ceiling in 2011 in an effort to create enough chaos to force their ideological agenda through Congress."
"I really hope that Speaker Boehner and the rest of his Republican leadership will stand up to the extremists on the Tea Party minority that just seem to be committed to crisis and stop the hostage tak..."
"It is not as harmful as uncertainty leading up to a debt default."
"I think it adds to the uncertain economic environment and it impedes hiring, investment decisions, and it is a weight, a corrosive--I call it a corrosive on economic growth, yes."
"Regardless of the magnitude of the harm, would a government shutdown, under current circumstances, be harmful to the economy?"
"Anything that adds to the uncertain economic environment, and this would qualify, is a weight."
"The public does not have a high opinion of the Congress--so this would just be one other example of the malfunctioning of the legislative process."
"Look, I think it is reasonable to have debates about lots of things, but the one thing we cannot debate, that is sacrosanct, is we pay our debt on time."
"I do not know of a single Democratic member of the Senate or House who either wants to shut down government or is advocating or threatening a shutdown of government."