House & Senate Passes Budget With No Republican Votes
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Democrats, Legislation, Republicans
No surprise here, and expect this to be a brutal fight.
WASHINGTON — The House and Senate approved budgets of about $3.5 trillion for the government on Thursday with no Republican support, a sign of deep partisan tensions likely to color Congressional efforts to enact major policy initiatives sought by President Obama.On the heels of House approval of its spending plan for 2010, the Senate voted 55 to 43 shortly before midnight to adopt a similar budget after a day spent laboring over politically tinged amendments that did little to change a fiscal blueprint generally in keeping with Mr. Obama’s ambitious agenda.
Democrats said the two budgets, which will have to be reconciled after a two-week Congressional recess, cleared the way for health care, energy and education overhauls pushed by the new president. The Democrats said the budgets reversed what they portrayed as the failed economic approach of the Bush administration and Republican-led Congresses.
The big question now…will Dems use the reconciliation process? The House Dems voted to include it if needed, and it will be needed because Dems can’t get 60 votes. But Senate Dems will be VERY hesitant to do this because it absolutely kills any cooperation between the two parties.
Still, if Dems want cap-and-trade…
The House budget does not include cap-and-trade in its reconciliation provisions. But neither fact has deterred cap-and-trade advocates, and administration officials support leaving the door open in the budget blueprint when it emerges from conference committee for a final vote this month.Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) called cap-and-trade “the most significant revenue-generating proposal of our time,” and said it would be difficult to pass without reconciliation because Democrats would be forced to accommodate a handful of Republicans as they did in the debate over the president’s stimulus package. Although winning use of the maneuver is unlikely, Cardin said, “a lot of us don’t want to give up without a fight.”
More as it develops…
This entry was posted on Friday, April 3rd, 2009 and is filed under Democrats, Legislation, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
