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The Senate approved a three-month suspension of the debt limit on Thursday, sending it to the White House for President Barack Obama’s likely signature.
The upper chamber voted 64 to 34 to add its approval to a plan conceived by House Republicans, which would push the deadline at which the government runs out of authority to borrow money to finance its obligations until May 18. The government would have otherwise run out of money within a matter of weeks.
In exchange for the extension of borrowing authority, both the House and Senate must now draft and approve separate budget resolutions by mid-April. The legislation approved Thursday by the Senate and last week by the House would place lawmakers’ pay into escrow if they were to fail to pass a budget.
The Obama administration has indicated that while the president would have preferred a longer-term extension of the debt ceiling, it did not oppose the short-term extension. Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law.
Attention will now turn to the normal budgeting process that typically dominates the first few months of the calendar year in Congress. Republicans’ gambit in offering this proposal was to highlight how Senate Democrats had failed to pass a formal budget resolution in the last four years. (Democrats argue they were working off of a de-facto budget stipulated by various spending cut agreements passed by Congress.)
Leaders of both chambers have suggested they’ll push ahead with ambitious, and markedly different, budgets.
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, will lead the GOP’s efforts; he’s vowed to produce a budget that would balance the budget in the next 10 years without raising any new taxes.
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, have said they plan to seek additional revenues from taxes in the budget they will produce. Washington Sen. Patty Murray, D, the chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee, will lead that effort.
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Pretty funny that you think it is Obama against both houses. I got news for you - HE IS ONE OF THEM!!!
President Obama is a House?
Yeah...is there a sliver of moon on the door?
How about we force term limitations down ALL of their troats! 2 terms max! And the right of recall of any off them where a petition of the state's citizens is say one tenth of the voting role!
On another topic did anyone watch the loathsome, disgusting performance from Nary Landrieu of LA.? Big baggy non musclular white bread putting on an imatation of the maid from "The Jeffersons"? She couldn't even get the finger snap part of it down correct! But like every other left wing democrat she had the "WE NEED TO SPEND MORE ON WELFARE AND TO HELL WITH THE DEBT!!!!!" verbage that these eugenisist come out with everyday.
Doesn't anyone ever realize that the reason that these lefties want to hand out just enough money to keep the poor, and especially blacks & hispanics, on the government dole is so that the people in power can stay there while noone from poverty ever gets rich!
Time to get EVERYONE on the highway to the middle or upper class and destroy this blarney that conservatives hates blacks etc.... It it the phony liberals that want to keep theirs that are the problem!
And an stupid gesture from a flabby, self serving white women shouldn't be accepted as anything but playing to the crowd!!!
And the dems threw the blacks to the wolves in order to pander to the latino since the black vote was sown up! Thus causing worse employment and poverty for the blacks!
There is no provision in our Constitution for the recall of Senators or Representatives. That would take an Amendment to our Constitution, as would term limits. Lots of luck!
will: We have term limits....it is called elections.....we keep voting them back into Congress.
Who do we vote for ? Azz raper or spincter ripper. we have no choice , if we vote we are putting a bad person in control regardless of party
Given that the American government can pass pretty much anything it wants (or so it seems), it might consider giving struggling Americans some relief from gas prices. Big oil is certainly not hurting for profits.
A friend told me that gas prices have risen 60 cents in the USA in the last 3 weeks. That is absurd, especially since she told me that she was finally feeling relief b/c the prices fell nicely through the first of the year.
Is that accurate?
No.
I think it is more like 16, not 60 cents. The price has dropped 90 cents, much of the relief happening because we switched to the cheaper winter blend of fuel. To be honest, oil companies don't make that much profit off a gallon of gas. It is about 30 cents profit or less. The tax on a gallon of gas is around 60 cents a gallon.
For the record, I am just making an attempt at levity.
Everyone knows that Congress only supplements their income with what the government pays ;)
For most of them - it is their "pocket money".
Ofcourse the President doesn't want a debate on the issue, he probably knows the plans suck. That's one thing that makes me worried is why doesn't the President want a debate on his plans?
Thats Presidents new way of doing business, he sounds heroric to his idiot followers as he screws them and the American people, its repulsive
Only reason why it passed because the republicans that are on the government dole wanted thier paychecks.They are hyprocrites when it comes down who will get cut, but No give me a pay increase while they want to cut social security.Hell they have the best social security ,serve your time and the government pays you for the rest of your life .While asking everyone else to take chances in the market to make the rich richer with your 401 k or retirement check.Just love that kind of thinking.
It is so sad to see how badly an elected government can fail its people. Your elections aren't fixing the problem. It might be time to revolt!! A little revolution now and then is a good thing (so said your own Thomas Jefferson).
Social Security is not the "dole". I have paid in every month for 50 years. The amount I have paid in (mandatorily) plus the low end of the reasonable interest on that money assures that when I get benefits, I will go approximately 23 years before my check needs to include anyone else's money. The Democrats have stolen from the social security funds like the mafia for about 40 of those years, but that does not lessen my contributions. Same with Medicaid. Money has been withheld from my check for every year Medicaid has been in effect.
Obrainless is spending much more than any total of social security benefits to foreign aid, benefits to illegal aliens, multiple vacations per year at taxpayer expense, and other boondoggles. Now he selects social security to threaten.
"Love that kind of thinking"? What would you know about thinking.
God forbid we could cut some spending, but no, lets just borrow some more money.
And if we don't pass the raise in the debt limit, then Obrainless says he will cut social security and medicaid. Not his own salary, not congress's salary, not aid to Egypt or Syria, not the welfare of the never-worked-in-their-lives set. No. He wants to cut social security (paid for by most of the recipients) and Medicaid (also paid by most of the recipients.)
I don't want their salaries placed in escrow if they don't pass a budget; I want them to go back into the treasury and never paid. They should lose pay, not have it delayed. If I wasn't doing my job, I wouldn't get paid--period! I'd be fired. That's what I want--every last one in government needs to just go home and we need to start over! Can you say TERM LIMITS!!!!!!
The law has long been the each chamber is to prepare a budget by early February. But there has never been any teeth to the law if a chamber did not do so. Without taking sides on the budget battle itself this new law establishes a foundation for putting teeth into current law. In other words, make permanent a law that whichever chamber, or both, fails to approve a budget by February 15 forfeits its pay until it does so. Note two changes; this is a permanent law and also mandates not "escrowing" or "sequestering" pay--but an outright forfeit. This favors nor detracts from either party over the long haul. And it would be a big step forward in putting an end to Washington style gridlock over this critical financiail road map. Both chambers must then put its cards on the table for the American people to evaluate under the harsh spotlight of truth and then comment on.
Well said.
useless politicians that keep kicking the can down the road while they collect large salaries,golden benetfits,huge pensions,power , etc for little or no ''WORK''IF THATS WHAT YOU CALL THEY DO.........congress
I wish Mr. Ryan full success in a balanced budget in 10 years without raising taxes. But he has been so far off that mark in the past that I hold little hope.
What is that scraping sound? It is the sound of the deck chairs on the titanic being rearranged.
Uhm ....did I miss something? How much more irresponsible borrowing are they doing.......in dollars? The story didn't even go there.
Congratulations to Congress, they have raised the debt limit to pay for purchase they have already made. There are always negative aspects to politics but today it is enough to focus on the positive aspects, so congratulations and well met.
i read the story as a debt limit was extended.....its not a budget...
it gives the stupid ass so called pretend president more unlimited spending
dont mess with texas - Congress holds the purse strings and spends the money, not the President. There is no choice in raising the dept limit. If there was a balanced budget for the next 10 years, the dept will keep going up to pay for dept obligations passed by Congress years ago and now. You know... like two unfunded wars, massive tax cuts and Medicare part D. All unfunded and we are obligated to pay. No choice.
So does the cash train leave Washington unchecked until May 18? Surely it has a cap or just covering the regular overspending. The story is terribly incomplete......on purpose maybe. WTH
I hope the middle class is enjoying the Obama Follies because you're going to get one hell of a tax bill from that Song and Dance Man...
When you don't know what to do and can't agree on anything, what do you do - KICK THE CAN DOWN ROAD. When are we going to get a LONG TERM solution passed? We're almost out of Road:-(
defenses of sen reid for not passing a budget are laughable and give a real insight as to why we are where we are in this country. news flash, reid didn't pass a budget in 2009 when the democrats controlled the house. as for ryan's budget proposal if you'd rather run against it than discuss your proposals then you are a democrat politician. it was a proposal which the democrats didn't like but they also wouldn't say what they would do and certainly wouldn't put anything in writing because they didn't want to run defending it. defend a democrat sen for not reporting free plane rides as the senate rules require, defend the senate for not passing a budget and buy their line that it's the republicans fault they don't do their job and you will get more of the same.
Most of the 34 votes against extending the debt ceiling voted for both wars and the $700 billion extension of Medicare , all part of the Bush legacy and without funding....actually, after two tax cuts.
If Republicans fail to extend it beyond the three months and try to balance the budget on the backs of poor and middle calss Americans you'll see one pissed nation where violence could be a real alternative.
violence? you might want to consider checking yourself. if you want to verbally attack those that don't agree with you that is your right, not productive in my view but your right. to threaten that violence might result is in my judgment the result in part of this president's attempt to characterize himself as right and anyone with a contrary view as wrong.
Guess it's ok when Bush gave everyone a tax cut... Why not let them expire on everyone...
The backs of the poor... So sick of this bullsh*t... What do they do, produce?
You get a chance to further yourself in this country.... If you don't look in the mirror..
Then the nation will have to be pissed. There is no other way to get REVENUE. There are no other classes that can make an impact on revenue despite what you have been trained through biased media. There simply are not enough dollars. "Numba no add up"
Everyone should be able to agree that we need to cut spending right? Yes. What do you do when your credit card is maxed out? Cut spending. Basic principal.
The rich cannot bail out this country regardless of how much you hope and wish it to be true. Again, "Numba no add up".
It literally lies on the middle class regardless of which "party" you affiliate.
The only way we will not see "one pissed nation" is if we can pull 16 trill out of increasingly thin air.
I mean 16 trillion real dollars, not Obama dollars.
Today's definition of Republican would label Ronald Reagan a socialist and a RINO
So other than kicking the can what got done today on a budget? Two suggestions:
1. Any new spending between now and when a budget is reached is frozen until such time as budget is presented and added as additional line items to be approved and accounted for by line item. This goes for executive orders as well. This would cover gun control, illegals, 20 million dollar vacations etc...
2. Why not have a 4 year budget that would need to be in place one year after being elected to office and end one year after each presidental election? One year to get your act together and overlap into 1st year of the next president.
Jeff - Didn't you know that the Budget passed is a 10 year budget. With very few exceptions, all items in a budget are for 10 years. It is reviewed every year with another 10 year budget.
They all want a 10 year plan to save 1.X trillon yet we are adding that much every year to our debt so the math is BS. We are currently at 16 tillion plus to at the end of ten year we would only be at 26 trillion and not 27 trillion. They could not pass a 3rd grade math SOL test.
Currently 40 cents of every tax dollar goes to pay interest just think what it will be in 10 years and then think who is going to be paying for it. (the so called cliff should provide insight)
Wow, they really do think they're just playing with Monopoly money. Just borrow more and everything will be all right. Wish I could do that.
I wonder if I can extend my debt, indefinitely??
Only if you promise to not get paid until to tell them what you're going to do to make more money.... or tell them to increase your limit again.
More cowardly delay. Are there no (wo)men in the Senate? Apparently only gonadless ones.
You are witnessing the demise of Amerika right before your eyes.