Peace in our time! Gov shutdown averted?

[Ragnar]

Hmmm

Shutdown averted, probably: Dems praise GOP’s temporary budget to keep government funded « Hot Air
via...
Shutdown Showdown: Stalemate Thaws As Democrats "Encouraged" By New GOP Proposal - The Note

Thank goodness. The crisis had reached the point where even travel agents were starting to panic.

The GOP’s latest proposal – a two-week spending bill with $4 billion in cuts – was designed to be hard for Democrats to resist because it is full of cuts they had already supported. For instance, the Republicans’ plan included $1.24 billion in cuts proposed by President Obama in his 2012 budget and about $2.7 billion in cuts to earmarks that both parties have already renounced…

“We are encouraged to hear that Republicans are abandoning their demands for extreme measures like cuts to border security, cancer research and food safety inspectors and instead moving closer to Democrats’ position that we should cut government spending in a smart, responsible way that targets waste and excess while keeping our economy growing,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s spokesman Jon Summers said in a statement Friday.

Typical, typical...

Wait, didn’t the same Jon Summers call the GOP’s $4 billion proposal “extreme” and a “non-starter” just 48 hours ago? Why, he did! But that was before Boehner unveiled his strategy to build that $4 billion out of cuts suggested by Obama himself. That’s why Democrats now feel compelled to not only praise the measure but to try to take credit for it — before they inevitably begin arguing that $4 billion is itself far too “draconian” to be acceptable.

Looks like the world will keep on spinning and the sun keep on rising.

 

[waltky]

Granny says tell `em to send her dat second stimulus check a-fore dey do...

Shutdown: Washington gets ready
February 25, 2011 -- Washington has started getting ready for a possible government shutdown.

Behind the scenes, federal agencies are working on their plans for shutting down operations and deciding how many workers they need to perform essential operations. Congress has one week -- until the end of March 4 -- to pass another short-term bill to fund federal agencies. If they fail, agencies are legally obligated to perform only essential activities necessary to protect life and property. In other words, agencies have to move at warp speed to quickly wind down most operations. If they don't, they face legal ramifications for spending money they're not allowed to.

The government would keep essential services -- like air traffic control and the national security apparatus -- in full operating mode. Each agency has its own shutdown plan. To prepare for next week, the agencies are updating their plans and submitting them to the White House's Office of Management and Budget. Obama administration officials have declined to release those plans, which include details like how many employees are needed to perform essential functions, and how long it will take each agency to complete a shutdown.

The budget office maintains the agencies are prepared. "OMB is prepared for any contingency as a matter of course -- and so are all the agencies," Kenneth Baer, OMB communications director, said earlier this week in a statement. "In fact, since 1980, all agencies have had to have a plan in case of a government shutdown, and they routinely update them."

Both Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress have said they want to avoid a shutdown. But OMB is watching Congress. According to the guidance distributed to other federal agencies, OMB says it will monitor the status of congressional actions and notify agencies if shutdown plans are to be implemented. The last time the federal government went dark was during the Clinton administration: five days in November 1995 and another 21 days ending in January 1996.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Kickin' the can down the road...

Government avoids shutdown; hard part still to come
March 2, 2011: The clock is already ticking for President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to reach another budget deal by March 18.

Congress passed a spending bill Wednesday that will keep the government open for another two weeks. That was the easy part. What comes next will be much harder.

Republicans were able to include $4 billion in cuts in the two-week bill, something Democrats in the Senate agreed to without too much fuss. But that $4 billion in cuts was the lowest of the low-hanging fruit. House Republicans now want to return to their plan that would cut roughly $60 billion from the federal budget over the remaining seven months of the fiscal year. And that plan contains things Democrats -- who control the Senate and the White House -- will never agree to.

That plan would eliminate funding for President Obama's signature policy victories, including the health care and Wall Street reform laws. It would also block all federal funding for Planned Parenthood, bar any federal agency from spending money on implementing the new health care law, and limit the activities of the Environmental Protection Agency and public broadcasting.

MORE

 

[waltky]

To shutdown or not to shutdown - that is the question...

GOP leaders' complex fight to avoid federal shutdown
13 Sept.`15 WASHINGTON (AP) — No government shutdown this year, Republican congressional leaders say. But with Congress, it's never easy.

A band of conservatives say they won't back legislation financing government agencies unless the bill blocks federal payments to Planned Parenthood. A partial shutdown will occur Oct. 1 unless lawmakers provide money to keep government functioning. With time running out, GOP leaders haven't said how they will handle conservatives' demands while also rounding up enough votes to prevent a shutdown. A look at the undercurrents they face as they work to figure it out:

THE GOP CAN'T IGNORE CONSERVATIVES ...

Conservative and Republican revulsion for Planned Parenthood and abortion has been reignited this summer by secretly recorded videos showing organization officials offhandedly discussing how they sometimes provide tissue from aborted fetuses for medical researchers. Keeping conservatives happy and prompting large numbers of them to vote in next year's presidential and congressional elections is good for the GOP. Conservatives are among the party's most loyal and numerous voters. Advancing a bill that finances government agencies but blocks Planned Parenthood's money is one way to do that.

.. BUT REPUBLICANS CAN'T GO TOO FAR

In this Oct. 2, 2013 file photo, despite signs stating that the national parks are closed, people visit the World War II Memorial in Washington. No government shutdown this year, Republican congressional leaders say. But with Congress, it's never easy. Conservatives are demanding a cutoff of Planned Parenthood's federal funds as their price for keeping agencies functioning beyond Sept. 30. A look at what's complicating the effort to avoid a shutdown.

Such a bill probably would pass the GOP-run House. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., acknowledges that he lacks the votes to prevail in his chamber and says President Barack Obama would veto it anyway. That makes GOP leaders reluctant to force a doomed standoff with Obama that could result in a shutdown and alienate pivotal independent voters. The public mostly blamed Republicans in 2013 when a partial shutdown lasted 16 days after they tried dismantling Obama's health care law in exchange for keeping agencies open. "Having charged up the hill once and been shot down, why would you want to do that again?" said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., an ally of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "I'm pretty convinced we're not going to shut down the government." Planned Parenthood group gets over $500 million in federal and state funds annually, virtually none of which can be used for abortions, and says it's done nothing wrong.

CONSERVATIVES AREN'T MONOLITHIC

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

'"Having charged up the hill once and been shot down, why would you want to do that again?" said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., an ally of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "I'm pretty convinced we're not going to shut down the government." Planned Parenthood group gets over $500 million in federal and state funds annually, virtually none of which can be used for abortions, and says it's done nothing wrong.'

That the Planned Parenthood non-issue is an 'issue' at all is ridiculous.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

'"Having charged up the hill once and been shot down, why would you want to do that again?" said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., an ally of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "I'm pretty convinced we're not going to shut down the government." Planned Parenthood group gets over $500 million in federal and state funds annually, virtually none of which can be used for abortions, and says it's done nothing wrong.'

That the Planned Parenthood non-issue is an 'issue' at all is ridiculous.

to a lib Nazi killing babies and selling their parts is a non issue!!!