Majorities support budget deal but shutdown still looms

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By Jonathan Bernstein / Bloomberg Opinion

Get ready. We’re headed for a government shutdown, quite possibly a long one, probably beginning Oct. 1.

Nothing is ever certain, and it takes very little for Congress to avoid a shutdown; just a short bill extending funding after the annual spending bills expire at the end of September. But House Republicans are far too dysfunctional to produce anything like that. Right now they can’t even manage to pass their own version of spending bills, let alone something that the Democratic majority in the Senate would pass and President Biden would sign.

Extended government shutdowns — longer than a long weekend — don’t happen by accident or because good-faith negotiations don’t get done by the deadline. Extended government shutdowns only happen when the group with the votes or the leverage to make it happen want a shutdown.

Right now, the more extreme conservatives among House Republican are threatening a shutdown if they don’t get their way. It’s true that a “clean” spending extension bill that would keep the government running while negotiations continue would almost certainly pass the House and easily pass the Senate. For that matter, the bipartisan annual spending bills that the Senate is passing would also almost certainly pass in the House. But while the extremists — members of the House Freedom Caucus and others — don’t have the votes, they do have the leverage. They’re threatening to oust Kevin McCarthy from his position as speaker if he brings those bills to the House floor. McCarthy believes they’re serious and is willing to go to great lengths to appease them, whatever the costs to his party and the nation.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-majorities-support-budget-deal-but-shutdown-still-looms/

[AllaN01Bear]

1. ugh

[jimfields33]

2. I heard on the radio that they finished something and was going to pass it.

Once done in the house, they don’t have to worry anymore. Get it done. I think it’s to extend to october 31st.

[slightlv]

3. And it's dead in the water

as soon as it hits the senate. Have you read what they're "offering?" And I say "offering" very snarkily. Nothing for Ukraine. All for southern "border control." Funding cuts across the board except for the VA and Pentagon. Deep cuts to all food allowances. Anything that would help the American people is anathema to these people, even for 30 days. And so, it'll be dead as soon as it hits the Senate. It's a proforma performance to say "we did something" and the Democrats killed it.

Several of my close friends are still working DoD and will be out of paychecks until this is resolved. One couple invites me and hubby to supper every weekend, and makes sure his elderly neighbor has enough food in her house for the following week.

Are our SS checks stopped? I thought I once read they still continue, especially if they're direct deposit, but I don't count on my memory anymore. The last time we had a shut down, I was still working DoD and was out of pocket along with everyone else. This time around, man... I don't know what we're going to do. Go without eating, for sure... the rest of it? I just don't know. It's getting pretty worrisome, especially to me - the known worrywort!

[jimfields33]

4. I think the border funding may be approved by the senate. The border needs more money for

Helping immigrants. Even New York welcomes more funding. As far as Ukraine, I’m sure we will give them more equipment which is what they need most.