Congressman Jim Cooper on board with plan to end shutdown, return 800,000 to work

photo Rep. Jim Cooper
Arkansas-Tennessee Live Blog

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., says he and a group of fellow moderate Democrats and Republicans have a plan to end the federal government shutdown and return 800,000 employees to work.

The bipartisan coalition's proposal calls for funding the federal government for at least six months at current levels and modify one "small part" of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

That small part is repealing a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices and replacing it with other revenues. According to Cooper, the coalition, led by Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wisc., and Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., is frustrated with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders' inability to keep government open or engage in serious talks with one another.

"In a weak economy, even a few days of government shutdown weaken America," Cooper said in a news release. "Congress needs to fund government now and stop partisan bickering."

House majority Republicans and Senate majority Democrats as well as fellow Democrat President Barack Obama have been at loggerheads for weeks over GOP efforts to first defund and then to delay portions of Obamacare. After a meeting between House and Senate leaders and Obama Wednesday night, both sides refused to budge.

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