Another government shutdown!!

[Votto]

That's right, it's Martin Luther King day and the government has completely shut down.

What will we do? How can we go on like this?

Somebody help me, I'm skeered!

 

[Penelope]

Hey Mark we understand Israel is before American for you , and Israel Is a apartheid régime, so perhaps you should go there and worry about their nukes. Jews are just mad because they have lost power under the Obama admin. Oh and how they hate for Iran to have sanctions lifted.

French Republicans?? Booo hoooo.

 

[Votto]

Hey Mark we understand Israel is before American for you , and Israel Is a apartheid régime, so perhaps you should go there and worry about their nukes. Jews are just mad because they have lost power under the Obama admin. Oh and how they hate for Iran to have sanctions lifted.

French Republicans?? Booo hoooo.

Thanks, I could not have said t better myself.

 

[waltky]

Flint water, Zika are stumblin' blocks to preventing gov't. shutdown...

Senate blocks stopgap bill to prevent shutdown this weekend
September 27, 2016 | WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Tuesday stumbled over a must-do bill to prevent the government from shutting down this weekend and to fund the fight against the Zika virus. Democrats, demanding money so Flint, Michigan, can address its lead-contaminated water crisis, overwhelmingly opposed the measure, as did a dozen of the Senate's most conservative members.

The 45-55 vote stalls the stopgap funding bill — for now at least — and is exasperating top Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who made several concessions to Democrats in weeks of negotiations over the measure. The GOP defections left McConnell, R-Ky., short of a simple majority, much less the 60 votes needed to clear a filibuster hurdle. Republican leaders are promising to address the Flint issue after the election in a separate water resources bill, but Democrats refuse to take them at their word. "'Trust me we will consider Flint later' — that's like nothing to me," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Democrats say that it's unfair that the water crisis in Flint has gone on for more than a year with no assistance, while Louisiana and other states are getting $500 million for floods that occurred just last month. Democrats have played a strong hand in the negotiations and know they have leverage because Republicans controlling the House and Senate are eager to avoid a politically harmful shutdown at midnight on Friday. "Democrats have been clear that Congress should not leave Flint and other lead-tainted communities out of any (stopgap spending) negotiation that includes emergency disaster funding," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other top Democrats in a Tuesday morning letter to McConnell. McConnell characterized the Democratic position as "no Flint, no flood" and indicated he is considering dropping the flood aid.

The stopgap spending bill would keep the government running through Dec. 9 and provide $1.1 billion in long-delayed funding to fight the spread of the Zika virus and develop a vaccine and improved tests to detect it. Zika can cause can cause grave birth defects. McConnell has made numerous concessions in weeks of negotiations on the measure, agreeing, for instance, to drop contentious provisions tied to Zika funding that led Democrats to filibuster prior Zika measures this summer and earlier this month. A provision to make Planned Parenthood ineligible for new anti-Zika funding for Puerto Rico was dropped, as was a provision to ease pesticide regulations under the Clean Water Act. A $400 million package of spending cuts added to the measure is no longer controversial.

The measure also includes a popular full-year spending bill that provides a 4 percent budget increase for the Department of Veterans Affairs. "Can it really be that Democratic leaders have embraced dysfunction so thoroughly that they'd tank a noncontroversial, 10-week funding bill over — well, what exactly?" McConnell asked, as he opened the Senate on Tuesday. "It's almost as if a few Democratic leaders decided long ago that bringing our country to the brink would make for good election-year politics." Republicans say the Flint issue will be handled in a separate measure to authorize water development projects. That measure — without Flint money — is set for a House floor debate Tuesday, but Republicans are telegraphing it will be included in any final measure handled in a postelection session. But GOP leaders on Monday night blocked Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich. — who represents Flint — from getting a vote on the Senate measure.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Tuesday said that the water development bill "is the better place to address this." The White House, which has not transmitted an official request for Flint aid, poked at Ryan for excluding it from the water projects bill. "The speaker of the House says he opposes adding funding for Flint to the continuing resolution and believes that it should be handled in the water resources bill. But it's not included in the water resources bill that's advancing through the House. And then he has the nerve to suggest that it's Democrats who are the ones causing problems," said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.

Senate blocks stopgap bill to prevent shutdown this weekend

 

[waltky]

Givin' up coal for a fight over Obamacare...

Shutdown threat eases as Dems signal retreat on miners' aid
December 9, 2016 | WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate headed to a vote averting a government shutdown at midnight Friday as coal-state Democrats beat a tactical retreat and promised to continue their fight next year for months-long health care benefits for retired miners.

"We had no intention of shutting down the government," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., adding that Democrats would provide enough votes to pass a stopgap spending bill to keep the government operating through April 28. The extended fight over the miners' benefits was intended to "highlight the seriousness of this issue," Schumer said. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., led the battle of coal-state Democrats who demanded a one-year extension for the miners rather than the shorter, four-month fix in the spending bill. Faced with Republicans unwilling to agree to the robust coverage and the departure of House lawmakers, the Democrats relented.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., speaks on Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016, during the signing ceremony for the 21st Century Cures Act. From left are, McConnell, Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., and Max Schill, 7, who suffers from Noonan Syndrome.​

Manchin acknowledged Friday night that he probably did not have the votes to block the bill, but said "the fight will continue" next year. "I'm born into a family of coal miners. If I'm not going to stand up for them, who is?" he asked reporters. Speaking on the Senate floor earlier, Manchin stressed the importance of coal as an energy source for Americans and the contributions of miners to the nation. "What 12 hours of the day do you not want electricity? ... Heat?" he asked as miners watching from the Senate's visitors' galleries.

The high-stakes fight gave Democrats, who suffered devastating election losses a month ago at the hands of working-class voters, a chance to cast themselves and not the GOP as the champion of the common man. Manchin was joined by other coal-state Democrats from states Donald Trump won last month, including Pennsylvania and Ohio. "We're just getting warmed up," said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., vowing a fight next year. "These miners and their families kept their promise, put their lives at risk. ... It's not too difficult for a senator or House member to keep a promise."

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Coal-state Democrats waged a fight for health benefits for thousands of retired miners, pointing to President Harry S. Truman’s promise 70 years ago guaranteeing a lifetime of coverage. The stopgap spending bill contains a short-term fix and the issue will be revisited next spring.​

The Senate was on track to vote late Friday night, just two hours before the deadline, to send the spending bill to President Barack Obama. The underlying funding bill would keep the government running through April 28 to buy time for the incoming Trump administration and Congress to wrap up more than $1 trillion in unfinished agency budget work. It also provides war funding, disaster aid for Louisiana and other states, and an expedited process for considering Trump's nominee for defense secretary, retired Gen. James Mattis.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - is alla democrats fault - dey playin' dirty politics...

U.S. government shutdown begins as spending bill fails in Senate
January 19, 2018 | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government officially shut down at midnight on Friday after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach a last-minute deal to fund its operations, divided in a bitter dispute over immigration and border security.

In a dramatic late-night session, senators blocked a bill to extend government funding through Feb. 16. The bill needed 60 votes in the 100-member Senate but fell short with only 50 supporting it. Most Democrats opposed the bill because their efforts to include protections for hundreds of thousands for the young immigrants known as Dreamers failed. Huddled negotiations by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer in the last minutes before midnight were unsuccessful, and the U.S. government technically ran out of money at midnight. The shutdown formally began on Saturday, the first anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Trump’s administration immediately sought to blame Democrats. “Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country’s ability to serve all Americans,” the White House said in a statement. The Trump administration said it would not discuss immigration until the government is up and running again. “When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders, we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform,” the statement said. Until a funding deal is worked out, scores of federal agencies across the country will be unable to operate, and hundreds of thousands of “non-essential” federal workers will be put on temporary unpaid leave.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding measure on Thursday. But Republicans then needed the support of at least 10 Democrats to pass the bill in the Senate. While five Democrats ended up voting for the measure, five Republicans voted against it. Democratic leaders demanded that the measure include protections from deportation for about 700,000 undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers who arrived in the United States as children. Republicans refused to include those protections, and neither side was willing to back down. McConnell and Schumer insisted they were still committed to finding an agreement that restores government funding as soon as possible.

Trump, who had made strict measures on immigration a cornerstone of his presidential campaign, last week rejected a bipartisan proposal, saying he wanted to include any deal for Dreamers in a bigger legislative package that also boosts funding for a border wall and tighter security at the U.S. border with Mexico. In a shutdown, “essential” employees who deal with public safety and national security would keep working. That includes more than 1.3 million people on active duty in the military who would be required to work but would not be paid until funding is renewed.

U.S. government shutdown begins as spending bill fails in Senate