Cheryl K. Chumley
Washington Post
Oct. 16, 2013
Chinese state media have been filled this week with cartoon images of America’s leaders, mocking them for stumbling on a debt deal while depicting the nation as a beggar.
CBS reported that a Commerce Minister adviser to the Chinese government, Mei Xinyu, said the “gentlemen” on Capitol Hill are unconcerned how their “monkey business” is impacting the world and degrading America’s image across the globe. He also said that if America does default on its loan obligations, China will likely quit buying U.S. Treasury bonds.
“Average Chinese believe [their] government is able to handle this situation and won’t let it shipwreck China’s economy,” he said in the CBS report.
This article was posted: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 at 9:30 am
Tags: economics, financial, foreign affairs, legislation, money
1 of 2. U.S. President Barack Obama meets U.S. Senate Democrats in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, October 12, 2013. Pictured are (L-R) Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Harry Reid (D-NV) and Patty Murray (D-WA).
Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed
WASHINGTON |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Lawmakers voiced tentative optimism Sunday that fiscal crisis talks between Senate leaders would pave the way to a deal to avert a government default and reopen the government, but Democrats and Republicans remained far apart on details.
As the clock ticked down to a Thursday deadline for raising the U.S. debt ceiling, necessary to avoid a possible government default that would roil world financial markets, both Democratic and Republican senators said the fact their leaders were meeting represented progress.
“It’s a breakthrough. Hard to imagine, but it’s a breakthrough,” Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.
“The conversation that started yesterday between Senator (Mitch) McConnell – the Republican Senate leader – and Senator (Harry) Reid I think has the promise of finding a solution,” he said.
Reid, the Senate majority leader, and McConnell held an initial session on Saturday and agreed to meet again on Sunday.
Saturday’s meeting, however, failed to dispel uncertainty about their ability to reach an agreement quickly to end a partial government shutdown and increase the nation’s borrowing authority.
Durbin offered no concrete reason for optimism, stressing the dire consequences of failure and his hope that “sensible people prevail” in a crisis that began with a partial government shutdown on October 1.
“I don’t want to be overly optimistic, but there’s a lot at stake,” said the Illinois Democrat.
Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman said he also expected the two sides could reach a deal by Thursday.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Senators Susan Collins, a Republican, and Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, agreed that a solution will be reached by Reid and McConnell before Thursday.
Among the unresolved issues are the duration of the debt ceiling increase and the level of spending Congress will approve when it finally agrees on a bill to reopen the government.
Democrats are attempting to use the negotiations to raise spending above the levels authorized by the “sequester” -stringent across the board budget cuts that took effect in March, with more reductions set for January.
Lawmakers are also scrambling to put hundreds of thousands of federal employees back to work after their failure to fund the government resulted in the partial shutdown.
Washington’s debt ceiling drama played out as anxious global financial leaders gathered in the U.S. capital for annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and Group of 20 major industrialized and emerging economies.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on Saturday warned the United States was just “five days away from a very dangerous moment” unless politicians produce a plan to avoid default.
“If this comes to pass, it could be a disastrous event for the developing world, and that will in turn greatly hurt developed economies as well,” he told reporters after a meeting of the bank’s Development Committee.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock investors, who were hoping to leave politics aside to focus on fundamentals, are likely to be more bearish on Monday amid expectations that talks to resolve the crisis will go down to the wire on Thursday.
The S&P 500 stock index generated two days of strong gains in advance of the weekend on hopes that an agreement to raise the $ 16.7 trillion federal borrowing limit was near.
But the lack of progress so far is expected to cause selling pressure to resume as investors start thinking the negotiations may go right up to the October 17 deadline to increase the debt ceiling.
“This continual breakdown in talks likely won’t have a positive effect on the markets,” said Bonnie Baha, senior portfolio manager at DoubleLine Capital in Los Angeles.
“If the U.S. breaches the debt ceiling and there’s any hint whatsoever that the U.S. will not meet their obligations on time, then all bets are off. We’re drifting into uncharted waters here,’ she added.
“There will probably be a negative reaction in the stock market but I think the pressure is really shifting to Washington now,” said William Larkin, fixed income portfolio manager at Cabot Money Management in Salem, Massachusetts.
(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom and Anna Yukhananov in Washington and David Gaffen in New York; Editing by Fred Barbash and Eric Walsh)
It’s looking more and more like Tuesday will be a split-screen day: The government will shut down, and Obamacare will open for business.
That’s going to annoy a lot of Republicans —because the ones who are pushing the shutdown are doing so precisely because they want to halt Obamacare.
Barring some last-minute deal, which gets less likely with each passing moment, the federal government will shut down on Tuesday because of the House and Senate’s inability to pass a spending bill that resolves their deep and persistent differences over Obamacare.
(Also on POLITICO: Obama keeps distance from Hill)
But Tuesday is also the day that Obamacare’s new health insurance marketplaces — some run by the states, many run by the feds — are scheduled to start signing up customers. And President Barack Obama has made it clear that, even if the government closes, the health care show will go on.
“On Tuesday, about 40 million more Americans will be able to finally buy quality, affordable health care, just like anybody else,” Obama said on Friday. The new health insurance exchanges, he said, “will be open for business on Tuesday no matter what — even if there’s a government shutdown. That’s a done deal.”
How is that possible? Here’s a guide to how it will work — and what we might see on Tuesday:
How can Obamacare still be open for business if the government shuts down?
Many pieces of the health care law, officially called the Affordable Care Act, aren’t tied to the annual spending bills. Much of the health law is mandatory spending — a kind of fiscal autopilot that’s not part of the annual appropriations battle that has Congress tied in knots. The mandatory components of the health law include the subsidies to help people buy private health plans as well as the expansion of Medicaid in many states. Both of those functions will be handled through the new health insurance markets or exchanges.
(Also on POLITICO: Hill prediction: Headed for shutdown)
Because those programs are mandatory, the Department of Health and Human Services has a lot of leeway to say that Obamacare activities can continue — and HHS officials have made it clear they’re going to use it.
On Friday, the HHS quietly posted its shutdown contingency plan. The bottom line was clear: Obamacare would continue, including the health exchanges and their coordination with Medicaid. It also said Medicare coverage “will continue largely without disruption.” True, lots of HHS workers would be furloughed — but those who would be told to stay home are concentrated in agencies that are not driving the launch of the health law.
HHS says its plan is consistent with legal advice that allows activities that “do not rely on annual appropriations, and activities that involve the safety of human life and protection of property” can keep running even if much of the government shuts down. And that means the staff that carry out mandatory programs like those in the health law can keep working — even if their positions are funded through the annual spending bills.
There’s plenty of legal precedent. In a report to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the Congressional Research Service predicted that “substantial ACA implementation might continue” during a government shutdown, citing a 1981 opinion by then-Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti. He argued in essence that as mandatory programs march on, they can take some discretionary-funded staff with them.
(WATCH: Mitt Romney thinks there’s a better way to stop Obamacare)
In addition, nobody really expected a huge rush to sign up on Day One. Even before the shutdown seemed so likely, the administration has been saying it expected people to spend some time learning more about their new health care options before committing to a health plan. Signup runs from October through March. Benefits kick in Jan. 1.
But at a time when so many Americans still don’t understand the law — and some don’t even realize that it hasn’t been repealed by the House or tossed out by the courts — the shutdown could add yet another layer of confusion. People may not realize they can still sign up when the government is shut down.
Where will they get the money to keep the exchanges open?
The exchanges have two main monetary needs: staff and infrastructure to keep them up and running, and insurance subsidies that will be available to people with low and moderate incomes.
The subsidy question is fairly simple. Like Medicare and Medicaid benefits, the subsidies are benefit payments that will still go out even if the government shuts down.
(WATCH: Obama to Congress: ‘Pay our bills on time’)
And for the exchange operations, HHS has already granted billions of dollars to the states setting up their own exchanges — 16 states plus the District of Columbia.
If the shutdown lasts for only a few days or weeks — the most likely scenario — the state-run exchanges should still be going full steam ahead, equipped with the funding and staffers they’ll need to start enrolling people right away. Some state exchange directors last week voiced some concerns about whether they’ll get everything they need — including data on income and eligibility — from the feds. But they said they are still ready to go.
It’s looking more and more like Tuesday will be a split-screen day: The government will shut down, and Obamacare will open for business.
That’s going to annoy a lot of Republicans —because the ones who are pushing the shutdown are doing so precisely because they want to halt Obamacare.
Barring some last-minute deal, which gets less likely with each passing moment, the federal government will shut down on Tuesday because of the House and Senate’s inability to pass a spending bill that resolves their deep and persistent differences over Obamacare.
(Also on POLITICO: Obama keeps distance from Hill)
But Tuesday is also the day that Obamacare’s new health insurance marketplaces — some run by the states, many run by the feds — are scheduled to start signing up customers. And President Barack Obama has made it clear that, even if the government closes, the health care show will go on.
“On Tuesday, about 40 million more Americans will be able to finally buy quality, affordable health care, just like anybody else,” Obama said on Friday. The new health insurance exchanges, he said, “will be open for business on Tuesday no matter what — even if there’s a government shutdown. That’s a done deal.”
How is that possible? Here’s a guide to how it will work — and what we might see on Tuesday:
How can Obamacare still be open for business if the government shuts down?
Many pieces of the health care law, officially called the Affordable Care Act, aren’t tied to the annual spending bills. Much of the health law is mandatory spending — a kind of fiscal autopilot that’s not part of the annual appropriations battle that has Congress tied in knots. The mandatory components of the health law include the subsidies to help people buy private health plans as well as the expansion of Medicaid in many states. Both of those functions will be handled through the new health insurance markets or exchanges.
(Also on POLITICO: Hill prediction: Headed for shutdown)
Because those programs are mandatory, the Department of Health and Human Services has a lot of leeway to say that Obamacare activities can continue — and HHS officials have made it clear they’re going to use it.
On Friday, the HHS quietly posted its shutdown contingency plan. The bottom line was clear: Obamacare would continue, including the health exchanges and their coordination with Medicaid. It also said Medicare coverage “will continue largely without disruption.” True, lots of HHS workers would be furloughed — but those who would be told to stay home are concentrated in agencies that are not driving the launch of the health law.
HHS says its plan is consistent with legal advice that allows activities that “do not rely on annual appropriations, and activities that involve the safety of human life and protection of property” can keep running even if much of the government shuts down. And that means the staff that carry out mandatory programs like those in the health law can keep working — even if their positions are funded through the annual spending bills.
There’s plenty of legal precedent. In a report to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the Congressional Research Service predicted that “substantial ACA implementation might continue” during a government shutdown, citing a 1981 opinion by then-Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti. He argued in essence that as mandatory programs march on, they can take some discretionary-funded staff with them.
(WATCH: Mitt Romney thinks there’s a better way to stop Obamacare)
In addition, nobody really expected a huge rush to sign up on Day One. Even before the shutdown seemed so likely, the administration has been saying it expected people to spend some time learning more about their new health care options before committing to a health plan. Signup runs from October through March. Benefits kick in Jan. 1.
But at a time when so many Americans still don’t understand the law — and some don’t even realize that it hasn’t been repealed by the House or tossed out by the courts — the shutdown could add yet another layer of confusion. People may not realize they can still sign up when the government is shut down.
Where will they get the money to keep the exchanges open?
The exchanges have two main monetary needs: staff and infrastructure to keep them up and running, and insurance subsidies that will be available to people with low and moderate incomes.
The subsidy question is fairly simple. Like Medicare and Medicaid benefits, the subsidies are benefit payments that will still go out even if the government shuts down.
(WATCH: Obama to Congress: ‘Pay our bills on time’)
And for the exchange operations, HHS has already granted billions of dollars to the states setting up their own exchanges — 16 states plus the District of Columbia.
If the shutdown lasts for only a few days or weeks — the most likely scenario — the state-run exchanges should still be going full steam ahead, equipped with the funding and staffers they’ll need to start enrolling people right away. Some state exchange directors last week voiced some concerns about whether they’ll get everything they need — including data on income and eligibility — from the feds. But they said they are still ready to go.
House and Senate leadership aides in both parties are increasingly convinced the federal government will close for the first time in more than 17 years on Tuesday morning.
There is still time to avoid such a climactic stalemate, the aides acknowledged. But unless there is a dramatic change in momentum, the likelihood that a partisan showdown over government funding and the future of Obamacare could lead to a shutdown has increased dramatically.
With a special closed-door meeting meeting of House Republicans set for noon Saturday, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his top lieutenants have not yet formulated their next play in their quest to keep the government open. It’s not even clear that the House will vote on Saturday.
(PHOTOS: How well do you know the news: Shutdown edition)
There have been repeated contacts between GOP and Democratic leaders and senior aides in recent days but no negotiations of any sort – or sign those are about to start – to resolve the standoff. Both sides feel they have made their position known to the other side, and are unwilling to make any concessions at this moment.
Senior House GOP sources say Republicans are likely to send the Senate an amended government-funding bill, but not a proposed one-week stop gap measure. Without that one-week funding bill – needed while Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and the White House try to reach a compromise agreement – the federal government will beginning shutting down “non-essential” operations on Tuesday morning.
House Republicans are considering adding several provisions to the two-month, $ 986 billion continuing resolution passed by the Senate on Friday, and then sending the bill back to the the upper chamber. These options include: a one-year delay of the individual mandate called for in the 2010 Affordable Care Act; an end to government’s contribution to health care for lawmakers and Hill staffers; a repeal of the medical devices tax that helps fund Obamacare; or the elimination of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a controversial Obamacare provision designed to hold down Medicare costs.
(WATCH – Debt ceiling showdown: By the numbers)
Reid, though, has already warned Boehner that he will block any House GOP funding bill with Obamacare-related provisions. Reid would move to table any House bill that contains those additional provisions favored by House Republicans. Reid could do that with a simple majority vote on Monday, setting up a government shutdown the following morning.
”We are going to accept nothing that relates to Obamacare. There’s a time and place for everything and this is not that time or place,” Reid said at a press conference following Friday’s vote.
President Barack Obama warned Republicans to “think about who you’re hurting” by letting the government shut down and said a closure would “throw a wrench into the gears of our economy at a time when those gears have gained some traction.”
Boehner, however, is under heavy pressure from his tea party and conservative House GOP colleagues to move to stop Obamacare’s implementation, whatever the political risk, including a shutdown.
(VIDEO: Major players to watch in shutdown showdown on Capitol Hill)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is privately meeting with hard-line House conservatives to try to get them to hold out against any spending bill that does not defund or delay Obamacare — set to begin on Oct. 1, the same date government funding runs out. A House GOP debt ceiling package loaded with conservative goodies, including a provision delaying Obamacare’s individual mandate for a year, couldn’t even get enough support to make it to the floor, demonstrating how little sway Boehner holds over his rank-and-file members at this point.
Friday saw a new headache for the Ohio Republican – GOP lawmakers who are pushing back against others in the party who want to end the government contribution to the health insurance of lawmakers and staff.
Some of Boehner’s (R-Ohio) top allies marched into his Capitol office Friday afternoon to beg the speaker not to cut off health-insurance subsidies, which are deeply unpopular with the party base. Under heavy pressure from Capitol Hill — including Boehner — the Obama administration ruled in late July that lawmakers could continue receiving the employer contribution even as they enroll in new health insurance exchanges.
(PHOTOS: John Boehner’s life and career)
On Friday, Boehner told the group — GOP Reps. Tom Cole (Okla.), Duncan Hunter, Jr. (Calif.), Mike Turner (Ohio), Kay Granger (Texas) and Anders Crenshaw (Fla.) — to canvass the House Republican Conference to find out what might get support, according to sources familiar with the talks.
For the moment, it appears that those lawmakers may win that fight, despite repeated calls from Republicans like Rep. Mike McCaul (Texas) and Sen.David Vitter (La.) to get rid of the subsidy, similar to that other Americans get from their employers.
“For the last 25 years, members of Congress have been treated like every other federal employee,” said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), a staunch opponent of cutting those subsidies who spoke up against the idea in a closed party meeting. “This idea of trying to vilify us now …, that is not the right thing to do.”
(Also on POLITICO: Obama to Congress: ‘Pay our bills on time’)
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), once a congressional staffer himself, said he was “a little concerned” with cutting staff health insurance subsidies.
Yet it’s obvious – and a huge understatement – to say the House GOP leadership is in a difficult predicament right now. Reid and Obama have refused to yield any ground on either the CR or the even more high stakes debt ceiling fight. The Treasury Department has warned the federal government will hit its $ 16.7 trillion borrowing limit on Oct. 17.
Obama is not interested in giving away pieces of his health care law just to fund government’s operations. And Boehner’s conservatives – who are taking their lead from Cruz – are not interested in giving up on their fight to defund Obamacare. There’s next to no trust in leadership’s strategies, and even less in Boehner himself.
(VIDEO: Mitt Romney thinks there’s a better way to stop Obamacare)
The last few weeks have been a game of whack-a-mole for Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.): they’ve cycled through a number of strategies to both fund the government, and lift the debt limit. But each time they do, the party’s conservative wing shoots it down and demands a new plan.
GOP leadership will try once again to wrangle support for something – anything – on Saturday, when they meet in a closed session in the Capitol basement. House leadership said they might not even vote on a CR Saturday; that vote could slip until Sunday, Republicans lawmakers and aides said.
Republicans and Democrats say they don’t want a government shutdown — but that hasn’t stopped both sides from making every effort to stuff their campaign coffers and pad their email lists off the fight over funding Obamacare.
With the clock winding down toward the shutdown deadline, lawmakers and outside interest groups have managed to find time all week to send email missives making the case that congressional sanity can be restored if supporters will just give them more money.
“Speeches alone aren’t going to win this fight for us,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote in an email Thursday. “The only way we can win is if the American people raise their voices and engage their representatives. The clock is ticking, and I need your help right now.”
Alongside his call to action: a big red “Donate Now” button.
(QUIZ: How well do you know this week’s shutdown news?)
Rep. Paul Ryan also lent his name to an effort on behalf of the Republican National Committee and his leadership fundraising committee, Prosperity PAC.
“The foundation of our democracy is built upon accountability. And the Republican National Committee has made it their mission to hold accountable each and every Democrat who chooses to embrace the President’s health care train wreck at the expense of their constituents,” the Wisconsin Republican wrote in an RNC email, asking contributors for just $ 14 for a Republican Senate in 2014.
His solicitation for Prosperity PAC was a little bigger. Ryan asked supporters to chip in “$ 100, $ 50, $ 25, or whatever you can afford today to help us protect the majority in 2014.”
(Also on POLITICO: Viewers guide to shutdown drama)
The push to translate the fight over funding Obamacare into campaign cash is not surprising since the issue is political red meat for both the Republican and Democratic base.
On a more practical level, it’s almost the end of the third quarter and lawmakers are looking to get as much cash in their campaign piggy banks as possible before the Sept. 30 filing deadline. The petitions are also a way for lawmakers to grow their email lists, which they can use to contact voters in future fundraising asks.
One hallmark that’s been missing from the dollar dash is swanky dinners and cattle call events featuring lawmakers as “special guests.” Big dollar fundraising isn’t part of the mix for a variety reasons fundraisers say — the Federal Election Commission has ruled that lawmakers can’t hold fundraisers off of pending legislation and most will even cancel industry events near important votes to avoid even the perception of a conflict. Also, holding a high-priced fundraiser over funding the government would almost certainly be portrayed negatively in the press.
(Also on POLITICO: Obama to Congress: ‘Pay our bills on time’)
Instead the campaign has been mostly targeting the grassroots online.
For Lee — who has helped lead the defund crusade — it’s been a fundraising message for weeks. In early August he sent an email fundraising pitch asking for supporters to help him “keep pressuring my fellow legislators to defund Obamacare before it’s too late.”
Lee spokesman Brian Phillips said the fundraising solicitations are just one tactic to keep supporters abreast of the Utah Republican’s activities.
“We use numerous vehicles to alert Senator Lee’s supporters that he is fighting for them and doing what they asked him to do. That’s one of them,” said Lee spokesman Brian Phillips.
(Also on POLITICO: House GOP banking on Plan C)
The staffs of the Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate also used the debate to send email blasts over the issue. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton tried to burnish the Kentucky Republican’s conservative credentials — by reminding readers that McConnell “fully supports the House Continuing Resolution to defund Obamacare” and that “if the Democrats amend the House CR, then they own Obamacare. Not Republicans.” The email included a link to contribute to McConnell’s Senate campaign.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) went a little more aggressive, though he did not solicit a financial contribution. Using the subject line “Anarchy,” Reid asked recipients to join the roughly 9.500 petition signers to tell Republicans not to shut down the government.
“This is about keeping vital government services up and running,” Reid wrote. “Making sure paychecks for our troops and their families don’t get disrupted. And keeping federal employees on the job in Nevada and around the country.”
(Also on POLITICO: Harry Reid derides the GOP ‘weird caucus’)
Speaker John Boehner took to Twitter earlier in the month, asking followers to sign the National Republican Congressional Committee’s petition to defund Obamacare.
The barrage of online communications wasn’t just coming from under the Capitol dome, however.
President Barack Obama sent a similar email Friday asking people to also sign a petition make sure “that the message gets through” to Speaker John Boehner to keep the government funded. Obama-allied Organizing for Action introduced a “donor wall” in an effort to show its grassroots support, offering people a chance of having their name on BarackObama.com as long as they contribute $ 5, or more.
The Senate Conservative Fund and Heritage Action — two of the most prominent conservative groups pushing the defund strategy — also tried to rally their donors.
Senate Conservative Fund, which has come under fire from Republican lawmakers frustrated with its strategy of targeting incumbent Republicans, was unapologetic on its fundraising on defunding Obamacare. The group took in $ 1.5 million in August, the majority of which was driven by its defund campaign.
(Also on POLITICO: Tom Coburn: GOP will ‘fold like hotcakes’ on Obamacare)
“We raise money to fight liberal policies and to elect true conservative leaders,” said Matt Hoskins, executive director of SCF. “People donate because they believe in our mission and know that it takes money to win these fights. The Washington establishment attacks is because we are effective. If we weren’t causing problems for them, they wouldn’t be complaining.”
And don’t expect the activity to stop. Heritage Action Fund’s political director Russ Vought sent an email blast after the Senate vote Friday with a link to donate to their cause.
“Now the fight shifts back to the House. It is never too late for your Representative to get it right,” the email reads. “Our work is not yet done: the House will be in session on Saturday.”
Despite the continued fundraising push, Heritage Action’s Dan Holler said it isn’t about the cash.
“If we were in this for the money, we’d be doing things like pushing the Internet Sales Tax, conjuring up a ‘conservative’ rational for amnesty and farm subsidies, and standing down on fights like Export-Import Bank,” he said.
A female inmate hand crew from Puerta La Cruz and firefighters in an engine company with them set fire to reinforce the line to stave off part of the Mountain Fire burning up a hill toward them on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 off Apple Canyon Road near Lake Hemet, Calif. Tuesday, July 17th, 2013. Officials say the wildfire in the mountains west of Palm Springs has destroyed three houses and three mobile homes and is threatening dozens more residences. (AP Photo/The Desert Sun, Crystal Chatham) RIVERSIDE PRESS-ENTERPRISE OUT; NO SALES; NO FOREIGN
A female inmate hand crew from Puerta La Cruz and firefighters in an engine company with them set fire to reinforce the line to stave off part of the Mountain Fire burning up a hill toward them on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 off Apple Canyon Road near Lake Hemet, Calif. Tuesday, July 17th, 2013. Officials say the wildfire in the mountains west of Palm Springs has destroyed three houses and three mobile homes and is threatening dozens more residences. (AP Photo/The Desert Sun, Crystal Chatham) RIVERSIDE PRESS-ENTERPRISE OUT; NO SALES; NO FOREIGN
Helicopter crews work the Mountain Fire as it burns in the wilderness near Lake Hemet, Calif. Tuesday, July 17th, 2013. Officials say the wildfire in the mountains west of Palm Springs has destroyed three houses and three mobile homes and is threatening dozens more residences. (AP Photo/The Desert Sun, Jay Calderon) RIVERSIDE PRESS-ENTERPRISE OUT; NO SALES; NO FOREIGN
What remains of a home destroyed by the Mountain Fire smolders Tuesday, July 16, 2013, in Pine Springs Ranch, Calif. The fast-moving wildfire in the mountains west of Palm Springs nearly doubled in size Tuesday, prompting the evacuation of about 50 homes. (AP Photo/The Desert Sun, Marilyn Chung) RIVERSIDE PRESS-ENTERPRISE OUT; NO SALES; NO FOREIGN
A member of the Big Bear Hot Shots works the fire line on Apple Valley Rd. near Lake Hemet, Calif. Tuesday, July 17th, 2013. Officials say the wildfire in the mountains west of Palm Springs has destroyed three houses and three mobile homes and is threatening dozens more residences. (AP Photo/The Desert Sun, Jay Calderon) RIVERSIDE PRESS-ENTERPRISE OUT; NO SALES; NO FOREIGN
An air tanker fighting the Mountain Fire near Mountain Center drops fire retardant on Tuesday morning, July 16, 2013. A fast-moving wildfire in the mountains west of Palm Springs nearly doubled in size Tuesday, prompting the evacuation of about 50 homes. (AP Photo/The Press-Enterprise, Kurt Miller) NO SALES; MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
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IDYLLWILD, Calif. (AP) — Longtime resident Dave Jones was back in his Southern California home a day after evacuating, but remained ready to leave as a huge wildfire fire threatened to top a ridge near his mostly empty mountain town.
The walls were bare in the home where he’s lived for the past 40 years after the 64-year-old and his wife stowed the valuable mementos, along with more practical items, like clothes, jewelry, medicines and the computer hard drive before heading to their son’s home in nearby Hemet.
“The fire came right up by the ridge yesterday afternoon, gave everybody a pretty good scare that it was going to come down the hill,” Jones said Thursday night.
The last time he evacuated for a fire it was 1997, and he stayed away for four days. Jones said he considered the order he got Wednesday “a light evacuation” and wasn’t afraid because he knows of a controlled dirt road to use as “an escape route” if fire does come down that ridge.
Forest Service spokesman John Miller said firefighters had made “great progress” by late Thursday night given the tough conditions and terrain, and evacuations were called off for a small handful of the thousands under orders to leave.
But the 35-square-mile blaze remained just 15 percent contained and had been growing in an atypical manner. The majority of the 3,300 fire fighters are on the western flank of the fire, near Idyllwild.
“Usually it cools down at night and we get more humidity. That hasn’t happened,” said Tina Rose, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “It’s been burning like it’s daytime for 72 hours in a row.”
Temperatures were expected to dip into the 60s overnight before creeping up into the 80s on Friday.
“What we’re concerned about is what you see right here,” said U.S Forest Service Fire Chief Jeanne Pincha-Tulley, pointing to a hazy sky. “When you get a column that puts out this much smoke, embers get into the column and can drop anywhere.”
She added the column was expected to go right over Idyllwild for the next two days. While authorities said only 5 percent of the town rebuffed evacuating, they cautioned they might not be able to help those who remain if conditions worsen.
“We cannot guarantee your safety if the fire runs into town,” Idyllwild Fire Protection District Chief Patrick Reitz said.
The 22,800-acre fire spread in three directions through thick brush and trees. Roughly 4,000 houses, condos, cabins and several hotels in Idyllwild and surrounding communities were threatened. Fire crews struggled to carve fire lines around the town to block the towering flames.
Authorities said the fire was “human-caused” but they wouldn’t say whether it was accidental or intentional. There have been no reports of any injuries.
Idyllwild, the small town on the other side of the mountains that tower over the desert community of Palm Springs is known for the arts and is surrounded by national forest popular with hikers and flanked by two large rocks that are favorites for climbers. Popular campgrounds, hiking trails and a 30-mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail that runs 2,650 miles from the Mexican border to Canada were closed.
“That’s going right down the middle of the fire,” U.S. Forest Service spokesman Norma Bailey said of the trail.
The evacuation center was alive with music Thursday as four teenage French horn players from Idyllwild Arts Academy rehearsed a piece by Austrian composer Anton Bruckner in a courtyard behind the cafeteria. They said they found it relaxing to play in an uncertain moment. On the other side of the building in the shade, a group of counselors picked at guitars and a ukulele.
“There were a lot of people practicing last night. I took out my piccolo and played a little bit,” said Sophia Yurdin, 16, of Los Angeles.
Grayson Hall, 17, a counselor at a Center for Spiritual Life camp that rents space from Camp Buckhorn said campers were aware a fire had been burning and were surprisingly calm when first told they had to leave.
“We had just done an emotional exercise about acknowledging your emotional baggage and letting it go. And right after we finished that, we got word that we had to evacuate. And we had to literally release our baggage,” he said.
The blaze that began Monday destroyed three houses, damaged another and destroyed three mobile homes, a cabin, a garage and about a half-dozen vehicles, the Forest Service said. Five commercial buildings, 11 other buildings and several smaller structures were also lost.
The fire was about 12 miles from the site of the 2006 Esperanza wildfire that killed five U.S. Forest Service firefighters and destroyed 34 homes and burned an area that hadn’t burned in many years.
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AP reporters Raquel Maria Dillon in Idyllwild and Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
