Obama again urges House to end 6 day government shutdown

As the U.S. government began a sixth-day closure, President Barack Obama said in his weekly address on Saturday that House Republicans had "shut down a government they do not like over a health care law they do not like." The President, who canceled a long-planned trip to Asia over the weekend because of the continuing political showdown, read letters he has received from Americans affected by the shutdown. The President said he would "work with anyone of either party on ways to grow this economy, create new jobs and get our fiscal house in order for the long haul -- but not under the shadow of these threats to our economy." "There is only one way out of this reckless and damaging shutdown: Pass a budget that funds our government with no partisan strings attached," Obama said. "The Senate has already done this, and there are enough Republican and Democratic votes in the House of Representatives willing to do the same, and this shutdown immediately. But the far right of the Republican Party will not let (House) Speaker John Boehner give that bill a yes-or-no vote." "Take that vote," the President said. "Stop this farce. End this shutdown now."