Can kicked down the road....

Congress Reaches Deal To Keep Government Open Through September

Congressional leaders reached a deal late Sunday to fund the government through September, avoiding a government shutdown.

The legislation includes $12.5 billion in military defense funding, which could increase to $15 billion of the Trump administration presents a plan to Congress for fighting the Islamic State. Still, the figure is half of the $30 billion President Trump originally requested.

The bill also provides $1.5 billion for border security, but none of that money is designated for the construction of a border wall or the hiring of new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

It also does not block funding for Planned Parenthood or sanctuary cities—which were issues Democratic leaders threatened a government shutdown over.

“This agreement is a good agreement for the American people, and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. “The bill ensures taxpayer dollars aren’t used to fund an ineffective border wall, excludes poison pill riders, and increases investments in programs that the middle-class relies on, like medical research, education and infrastructure.”

Other provisions in the spending bill include:

The National Institutes of Health, a priority of Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike, will see a $2 billion funding increase, to give it $34 billion total.

The deal protects 99 percent of the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget and increases clean energy and science funding in spite of Trump’s calls to cut all three priorities. […]

The package includes $295 million to cover a Medicaid funding shortfall in Puerto Rico, one of the outstanding issue in the talks late last week.
Trump tweeted Thursday that, “Democrats want to shut government if we don’t bail out Puerto Rico.”

It also includes money to permanently extend health benefits for retired miners, a top priority of Senate Democrats facing re-election next year such as Sens.Joe Manchin(W.Va.) andSherrod Brown(Ohio).

There is $2 billion in disaster funding for California, West Virginia, Louisiana and North Carolina to rebuild damage caused by flooding and storms and increased funding for transit infrastructure grants.

The House and Senate return Monday night and must pass the bill by 11:59 p.m. May 5, when a short-term spending bill runs out.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/...nt-shutdown-n2320527

According to Washington Post, negotiators from both parties reached an agreement on a spending package to fund the government through the end of September, alleviating fears of a government shutdown later this week. Congress is expected to vote early this week on the package, with the bipartisan agreement expected to include increases for military spending and border security, a major priority for GOP leaders in Congress.

Several other important White House initiatives were rejected by the Republican and Democratic negotiators, including money for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border that Trump has argued is needed to stop illegal immigrants and drugs. Instead, congressional negotiators settled on $1.5 billion more for border security, including more money for new technology and repairing existing infrastructure, the aide said.

The Trump administration had earlier backed away from a threat to end federal subsidies for low-income people to get health insurance through Obamacare, the program that Trump had pledged to repeal. Puerto Rico would get an emergency injection of $295 million in additional funding for its Medicaid health insurance program for the poor, according to the aide who asked not to be identified. The impoverished island, which is a U.S. territory, is facing a severe Medicaid funding shortfall. Democrats also fended off potential cuts to women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood, while House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi applauded a nearly $2 billion hike in funds for the National Institutes of Health this year.

Coal miners and their families facing the loss of health insurance next month would get a permanent renewal under the spending bill.

Update: Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer seems very positive on the bipartisan agreement too (but can't resist a few jabs at President Trump)...

"This agreement is a good agreement for the American people, and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table.

The Bill "ensures taxpayer dollars aren’t used to fund an ineffective border wall, excludes poison pill riders, and increases investments in programs that the middle-class relies on, like medical research, education, and infrastructure"

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/...en-through-october-1

So what they are saying once again is that they don't give a damn what the people want?

Makes you wonder if elections matter at all...
The Dems lose elections yet continue to get their agenda. Government continues to expand and grow.

When does "regular order" begin? The idea of Congress actually producing bills through the process of committee work and markup and public debate, and then the President signing individual bills for each department, or vetoing individual funding bills? When is the tyrannical "continuing resolutions" end? Chuck Schumer would not have much power if all government funding were not in one bill that nobody on earth will ever read. I thought continuing resolutions were a result of Democrats and their awfulness and divided government. Now, Republicans control everything and we still have continuing resolutions. Is there any date when Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell will return the government to the people and give us a working Congress, instead of this pathetic performance art we now have that delivers us lies, fraud and corruption in the form of "continuing resolutions"?
This must end.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
Makes you wonder if elections matter at all...

No, it doesn't make me wonder any such thing, and you'd better come to your senses and refrain from saying stupid shit like that in this forum.

Locked