Shutdown will 'throw wrench' into economy: Obama

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama is ramping up pressure on Republicans to avoid a post-midnight government shutdown. He says a shutdown would hurt the economy and hundreds of thousands of government workers.

He says it would ``throw a wrench into the gears'' of a recovering economy.

He urges the House to pass a short-term spending bill free of any conditions that would weaken the nation's 3-year-old health care law.

Obama spoke Monday after the Senate rejected a House proposal to delay implementation of the health care law. House Republicans were preparing to vote on another stop-gap spending measure, this one putting off a requirement that people must obtain health insurance.

The White House issued a veto threat to that proposal shortly after GOP leaders proposed it.