Barack Obama Speech on Government Shutdown

Washington (CNN) -- Democrats and Republicans held their ground on Thursday, the third day of the federal government shutdown, refusing to budge from their positions about who is to blame for the crisis and how to resolve it.

Leaders from the two parties offered rhetoric similar to what they've been saying for days, providing little hope for a breakthrough tied to Congress' inability to agree on a spending plan for President Barack Obama to sign.

This is despite face-to-face talks Wednesday night involving Obama and congressional leaders, a meeting Obama called "useful," House Speaker John Boehner deemed "polite" and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi described as "worthwhile." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell characterized it, though, as "unproductive," an assessment seemingly backed up by the continuing partisan rhetoric on Thursday.

The debate was halted Thursday by a shooting near Capitol Hill, which prompted a temporary lockdown. When it lifted, members of both parties came together on the House floor to thank responding police officers -- though few expected this unanimity to last long.

For weeks, a conservative wing of the Republican Party has demanded that any spending measure include provisions to dismantle or defund Obamacare, which became law in 2010 and was upheld by the Supreme Court last year.

Boehner has followed that model in the House, refusing to let representatives vote on a full spending bill without add-ons, even while pushing through measures to fund popular programs separately. Democrats have refused to go along with this approach, as they've instead accused Republicans of harming government workers, those who rely on government programs and the economy generally by insisting that any spending bill include provisions targeting the president's signature health care reform, the Affordable Care Act.

Those critics are led by Obama, who derided the GOP strategy as "reckless" in a speech Thursday in Rockville, Maryland. He predicted that the Democratic-led Senate's "clean" version of a short-term spending plan to fund the government -- without anti-Obamacare add-ons -- would pass the House with support from Democrats and some Republicans, if only it were put up for a vote.

Written By: Tom Cohen,CNN

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