secondranking Democrat asked for the meeting

From left, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., Sen. Tim Kaine, DVa., Sen. Mark Warner, DVa., Sen. 9, 2013, during a news conference on the ongoing budget battle. President Barack Obama was making plans to talk with Republican lawmakers at the White House in the coming days as pressure builds on both sides to resolve their deadlock over the federal debt limit and the partial government shutdown. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

In this Oct. 8, 2013, photo, Andrea Bentley, with the American Federation of Government Employees, protests the government shutdown outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. A new poll says Americans are holding Republicans primarily responsible for the partial government shutdown. The Associated PressGfK survey finds plenty of disdain to go around as people size up the federal impasse. Most now disapprove Green Monday UGGs Sale of the way President Barack Obama is handling his job. And Congress' approval rating is a perilous 5 percent. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

WASHINGTON (AP) Its approval ratings scraping bottom, Congress took no discernible steps yesterday to end the nineday partial government shutdown or to head off a threatened default by the national Treasury.

Instead, the House passed legislation that the Obama administration already had rendered unnecessary, while Speaker John Boehner and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi met facetoface and promptly disagreed even about which side had requested uggs outlet online the gettogether.

Across the Capitol, the Senate marked time under 18th century rules, focusing its attention on a test vote next weekend on a $1 trillion increase in the debt limit to avert a default. 17 to be sure of preventing default.

How bad would that be? The nation's largest manager of money market mutual funds was taking no chances. It said it had been selling off government debt holdings over the past couple of weeks and no longer holds any that comes due around the time the nation could hit its borrowing limit. Fidelity Investments expects Congress to take the necessary steps to avoid default, but "we have to take precautionary measures," said Nancy Prior, president of Fidelity's Money Market Group.

Leaders of both political parties have warned that a financial default could plunge the economy into recession, cause interest rates to rise and home values to plummet.

But at least one Republican lawmaker, Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, said a default wouldn't be the worst calamity to befall the country.

"Insolvency and bankruptcy" would be worse, he said, warning that that would be the result of yet another increase in the debt limit without attaching measures to bring down the federal budget deficit.

The partial shutdown ground on, although an Associated PressGfK poll suggested the impact was anything but uniform. Only 17 percent of those polled said they or their households had experienced any impact, while 81 percent said they had not.

Who's fault? Some 62 percent said Republicans were mostly or entirely to blame for the partial shutdown, which began on Oct. 8, while 49 percent said as much for President Barack Obama.

There was widespread agreement on one point. The country is widely dissatisfied with elected lawmakers.

A new Gallup poll put approval for Congress at 11 percent, a mere one in every nine adults. The APGfK survey made it 5 percent cheap uggs approval and only 3 percent among independents, whose votes are the main prize in next fall's midterm elections. Nationally, a whopping 83 percent of adults disapprove of Congress' actions.

Inside the Capitol, neither private meetings nor public votes offered any hint of progress toward ending the latest gridlock.

Republicans are seeking negotiations on budget, health care and other issues as the price for reopening the government and raising the debt limit. Obama and Democrats say no talks unless legislation is first passed.

The House voted 252172 to reopen the Federal Aviation Administration. Democrats generally opposed the measure and the White House issued a veto threat, saying the government should be reopened all at once, not on a piecemeal basis. troops.

That was the topic that drew Black's attention in his daily prayer at the opening of the Senate's session. UGGs Cheap "When our federal shutdown delays payments of death benefits to families of children dying in faraway battlefields, it's time for our lawmakers to say, 'Enough is Cheap NFL Jerseys From China enough," he said.

Controversy accompanied the subject.

Republicans said Congress had passed Wholesale NFL Jerseys From China and Obama had signed legislation last week to permit the payments, but the Defense Department said otherwise. As Republican leaders were pushing toward a vote on the bill making it explicit, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced a charity would pick up the death benefit costs instead.

In a delicate minuet, Pentagon officials said they were not permitted to solicit the funds, but could accept an offer if one were made unbidden. That eased the pressure on Senate Democrats and the White House, who have generally refused to support measures to ease the impact of the partial shutdown without ending the disruption entirely.

In the House, Speaker Boehner of Ohio sat down with the Democratic leader, Pelosi of California, and their secondsincommand.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, UGG Boots Cheap said, "Reps. Pelosi and Hoyer (Rep. Steny Hoyer, the , and as we've stated publicly, we're willing to meet with any Democratic leader who is willing to talk."

Pelosi issued a statement saying, "Yesterday, when I was asked by the Clearance UGG boots Speaker to meet today. ."

Not surprisingly, perhaps, neither side reported any progress toward compromise after the 45minute session.

There was more snarling about a White House invitation to House Republicans for a meeting on Thursday.