Finally, a resolution . Senate Passes Bill To End Government Shutdown Our government has to do better. According to The Chicago Tribune Budget By an overwhelming vote, the Senate passed a budget compromise Wednesday night that would reopen federal agencies and allow the Treasury to continue borrowing to pay the nation’s bills, averting the possibility of a default. Federal agencies could begin reopening in the morning, although full operation in some cases could take longer. The vote, 81-19, approved an agreement negotiated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). It ends a political standoff that shut down federal programs for 16 days and led to the furlough of hundreds of thousands of federal workers. The deal makes no significant changes in President Obama’s healthcare law, which Republicans had previously demanded. President Obama said after the vote that he will sign the bill immediately once it reaches his desk. “We can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty and unease from our businesses and from the American people,” he said. Obama said he hoped lawmakers would take the opportunity to craft a “sensible budget.” “Hopefully next time it won’t be in the 11th hour,” he said. “We’ve got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis.” Took them long enough! With the government’s borrowing authority set to run out on Thursday, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said he would allow the deeply divided House to vote on the Senate plan for a short-term increase in the debt limit and a government reopening. It is expected to pass with mostly Democratic votes. The agreement would extend U.S. borrowing authority until Feb. 7, although the Treasury Department would have tools to temporarily extend its borrowing capacity beyond that date if Congress failed to act early next year. The agreement also would fund government agencies until Jan. 15, ending a partial government shutdown that began with the new fiscal year on Oct. 1. The deal represents a bruising political defeat for Republican conservatives who had demanded changes to President Barack Obama’s healthcare law before they would agree to fund the government. Several House Republicans said Boehner’s leadership position would not be at risk in the fallout. The speaker earned a standing ovation at an afternoon meeting of House Republicans, and Republican Representative John Fleming of Louisiana, a Tea Party activist, said Boehner’s stock had risen because he “hung in there with us.” “Our drive to stop the train wreck that is the president’s healthcare law will continue,” Boehner said in a statement, adding the House had fought Obama “with everything it has” and he would not block the bipartisan Senate agreement. But opinion polls show Republicans have taken a heavy political beating in the showdown as they head into next year’s congressional elections. Governing in the 11th hour is right. Ninjas are ripping food off of Walmart shelves and knocking people up the head for EBT cards. Continue reading →
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