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Back in the spring, we talked about the looming possibility of a pre-election government shutdown. As of this afternoon, the threat appears to have been largely resolved.
To briefly recap, Democrats and Republicans struck a deal last summer on spending levels for the upcoming year, which seemingly cleared the way for a smooth budget process. In April, however, House Republicans said they no longer liked the agreement they'd already accepted, and demanded even deeper spending cuts. Without an agreement, we'd see a shutdown in September -- just two months before the national elections.
So, what happened? Today, leading policymakers agreed to simply leave levels where they are for a while.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced on Tuesday an agreement to avoid a government shutdown shortly before the November election. Reid said President Obama has also agreed to the deal. [...]
The continuing resolution will extend government funding for six months after it runs out Oct. 1.
The government will be funded at $1.047 trillion, the top-line spending level for 2012.
While 2012 spending was set at $1.043 trillion under the August 2011 Budget Control Act, the actual rate is expected to be closer to $1.047 trillion. That also is the number set for 2013 spending.
Did Boehner & Co. blink? Pretty much. In April, Republican leaders, especially in the House, said the spending levels agreed to last year were no longer acceptable. Today, those same levels turned out to be adequate after all.
The stopgap agreement may yet fall apart. The leadership offices acknowledged the package would be written during the August recess, and would have to be passed by both chambers shortly before the September deadline.
In all likelihood, it will pass, but it's not yet a sure thing.
Rank-and-file House Republicans hoped to use the shutdown threat as leverage to force deeper cuts, and it's unclear whether they're willing to follow their leadership's lead. The dynamic to remember has nothing to do with Democrats' spine and everything to do with GOP leaders not wanting to be on the hook for a shutdown two months before Election Day -- a shutdown that would surely put the House Republican majority in even greater jeopardy.
With that in mind, the 112th Congress, facing its fourth shutdown threat, will probably avoid falling over the cliff once more. Of course, it's hard to cheer too loudly when elected officials figure out a way to keep the government's lights on for another six months, but I suppose this is good news -- or at least what passes for good news in the worst Congress ever.
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Do you think Congress's 11% approval rating had anything to do with their decision not to backtrack again?
lol..you think?
Given the bright flame of true believerdom among the fascist traitors of the GOP, probably not. They'd be willing to go over the cliff to prove that the American people "really" support their views, if they were only just to stick to their "guns". But likely Boehner and the others who worry about that stuff finally became willing to consider a bipartisan House Majority vote excluding the real wingnuts (most of whom are very likely to lose in November) and keep their potential losses down. Letting the nutbags shut down the government six weeks before the elections would guarantee a 100-seat loss for the southernist scumballs.
Give them all a big push on election day and trip them on the way out!
The whole problem is that the teapubs won't stick to ANY agreement they make and that is why Congress is like a broken record voting on the same thing over and over and over and over again. Teapubs never keep their promises unless it is to the rich and big corporations.
And you REALLY think that the tea partiers are not going to throw a hissy fit about this again?
Wanna buy a bridge?
They are the type that will always throw fits.
I must admit the Kochs struck gold by giving these disgruntled idiots a platform from which to showcase their venom.
It'll pass, quietly and without fanfare, probably at an 11pm vote when the east coast is asleep. Way too close to election for any theatrics. Even the libertarian-neocon-evangelists have self-preservation instincts.
Lest you think that "libertarian-neocon-evangelists" is a slur...it accurately describes the weird combination of beliefs the "new blood" in congress hold.
it's also a good slur, since those three words are excellent synonyms for the word MORON.
Maybe they actually studied the figures and realized that spending is not out of control, and that President Obama has actually spent a great deal less, than any Republican President that has served before him. Or they are beginning to understand that American people are quite capable of complex Math problems. Never before has this Country been able to survive without revenue. If the wealthy do not want to help the people who put them where they are today, maybe they should move to Switzerland or The Canaan Islands where all their money is. I'm sure we could get along without them, we have been thus far. They must be bored waiting around for some more turnip juice. They could build some castles, that oughta be fun for awhile. Romney is really trying his best to help them out. Sometimes you can find some spare change under the cushions of your couch. Maybe they could grow some kahunas and help the less fortunate.
And maybe the sun could rise tomorrow morning in the west, an event with a greater probability of occurrence than that of which you write.
What happened to the links? They were available around 1pm and since then they have vanished!
We have reached the point where if Congress shut down altogether nobody would notice except of course the lobbyists. In fact if the news came down of such a shut down most Americans would either cheer or simply shrug and get on with life.
Why doesn't this sentence have a link to "John Boehner is really, really, bad at his job?"
These guys are just awwwfuulll! The agreement we already agreed to, we will now shred and use the tinder to light the pyre of government shut down and dance around it is their mantra. Sort of like ritual they practice at Bohemian Grove, just a few miles from here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/axolotlsure/2989258779/in/set-72157608545465375