Plan B Forum

Senate Passes Budget Bill to Raise Spending and Reopen Government

WASHINGTON — The Senate easily approved a far-reaching budget deal that would reopen the federal government and boost spending by hundreds of billions of dollars early Friday, but only after enduring a one-man blockade by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who had held up the vote and forced the government to close.
The House is expected to follow before daybreak, though the outcome in that chamber was less certain. If the House approves the deal, the government will reopen before the workday begins.

But Mr. Paul, a Republican, will have made his point. Angered at the huge spending increases at the center of the deal, he delayed passage for hours with a demand to vote on an amendment that would keep in place strict caps on spending that the deal would raise.

“The reason I’m here tonight is to put people on the spot,” Mr. Paul said Thursday night. “I want people to feel uncomfortable. I want them to have to answer people at home who said, ‘How come you were against President Obama’s deficits and then how come you’re for Republican deficits?’”

The shutdown comes on the heels of a three-day closure brought about by Senate Democrats last month. As midnight approached, Mr. Paul did not relent, bemoaning from the Senate floor what he saw as out-of-control government spending and repeatedly rebuffing attempts by his fellow senators to move ahead with a vote.

“I think the country’s worth a debate until 3 in the morning, frankly,” he said.

Senate leaders were left helpless.

“I think it’s irresponsible,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, lamenting what he described as “the act of a single senator who just is trying to make a point but doesn’t really care too much about who he inconveniences.”

Mr. Paul’s ideological opponents were not buying his fiscal rectitude either. Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii, posted on Twitter: “Rand Paul voted for a tax bill that blew a $1.5 trillion hole in the budget. Now he is shutting the government down for three hours because of the debt. The chance to demonstrate fiscal discipline was on the tax vote. Delaying a vote isn’t a profile in courage, it’s a cleanup.”

Around 1:45 a.m., the Senate finally passed the measure, 71 to 28.

Rand Paul stops unanimous passage of 9/11 first responders funding bill

(CNN)Republican Sen. Rand Paul objected Wednesday to an attempt to pass the bill funding 9/11 first responders' health care unanimously, arguing that passing such a long-term bill without offsetting the cost would contribute to the national debt.

The delay presents another hurdle in the dramatic fight to secure funding for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, despite Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's continued reassurances that the fund would be fully funded. After comedian and fund advocate Jon Stewart gave emotional testimony last month accusing lawmakers of failing to support the bill, the measure was swiftly approved for to a floor vote in the House and passed the lower chamber last week on an overwhelmingly bipartisan 402-12 vote. [And the bill has 74 co-sponsors in the Senate...]

ex-khobar Andy wrote:The trouble with the notion of compromise is that it has become qualitative rather than quantitative. Compromise on a budget normally means that although you want $50 billion you will settle for $30 billion - you can still achieve 9/10 of your goals (analogous to the 80:20 rule). A wall or an agreement to soften the lives of undocumented children is a qualitative - binary - thing. Either you have one or you don't. There is not a compromise position.

ex-khobar Andy wrote:One thing about Kentucky - we're pretty good at electing total fucking assholes. They can't take that away from us.