Posted on 09/23/2011 7:33:46 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
An already contentious debate over funding the government past September 30 intensified Thursday as Republicans amended their bill to be more amenable to GOP lawmakers and Democrats pledged to oppose it.
In what is at latest government shutdown threat this year, without action by the start of the new fiscal year, all but the most essential government services will cease on October 1 until a new agreement is reached.
House Republicans passed a continuing resolution early Friday morning on a mostly partly-line vote, though the bill drew immediate criticism from Senate Democrats over its spending cut offsets for new federal disaster aid.
The bill the House will vote on tonight is not an honest effort at compromise," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, noting that the bill is dead on arrival in the Senate. "It fails to provide the relief that our fellow Americans need as they struggle to rebuild their lives in the wake of floods, wildfires and hurricanes, and it will be rejected by the Senate."
The House added $100 million in cuts to the federal program that made the loan to the now-bankrupt solar company, Solyndra, in order to win over enough GOP votes to pass over Democratic opposition. An earlier version fo the bill failed to pass on Wednesday, dealing a blow to tha Republican leadership.
The measure includes $3.65 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, less than the $6.9 requested by the Obama administration and demanded by Democrats.
Michael Steel, a spokesman for Speaker of the House John Boehner, called on the Senate to pass the bill in its current form, noting FEMA could run out of disaster relief money as soon as Monday.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Good, there will be less damage done if they are shut down.
Do it! Meaningful cuts will come thereafter.
When this has occurred previously, back pay was awarded once the lights were turned back on.
Shut it down now!!! Grand reopening Jan 2013.
Where is the BUDGET, Mr. Pres(id)ent?
House Republicans should not have passed a continuing resolution, or even considered same. If I recall, the House passed a budget. Harry Reid had the Senate sit on their butts. When the scare tactics came out that there was a risk of government shutdown, Boehner should simply have said “we passed a budget, our work is done until the Senate acts on it.”
Shut it down. :D
Shutdown = balanced budget
Shut it down and see how few really give a damn.
So does this mean that the military will not get paid for the third time in one year?
It’s incredibly stupid to constantly kick the only people keeping you safe in a dangerous world. Remember what happened to Rome when they stopped being able to regularly paid their citizen soldiery...
According to the Washington Times and other sources, the conservative Republicans are willing to vote in favor of additional funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to deal with the recent flooding along the eastern seaboard but they want corresponding budget cuts to ensure federal government spending stays within the debt limit agreed to in July/August.
Reportedly, Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the measure because it offset $1.5 billion of $3.65 billion in disaster relief funding with a cut to a program that loans money to car companies to encourage the production of energy-efficient cars. They believe the government sponsored energy-efficient car loans program create jobs and FEMA, strained by repeated natural disasters, both need more funding.
After the vote last night, the main stream media glossed over the 182 Democrats that opposed the measure and immediately began to focus on the 48 Republicans who are "refusing to compromise". While there is no doubt more of the story yet to be told, one has to wonder why Congress (especially considering the recent struggles over the debt ceiling and the resulting dissatisfaction with both Republicans and Democrats in Congress) would immediately return to traditional spending practices.
Arguably, the general public is looking for fiscal restraint and responsibility, even if it means cutting current spending to fund emergency aid. This, however, is not necessarily where the main stream media or, for that matter, the majority of our Congressional membership is focused.
We should now expect the media to focus on the 48 House members who voted against the measure with terms like "obstructionists" and "ideologues" instead of the real problem(s) that face our nation and our future.
The problem is the debt; the debt is the result of the spending. Our representatives must get control of the spending and start to reduce real (not just projected) spending.
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