STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 17 January 2014

[Ghost Dog]

8. Spending Bill’s Passage Sets Stage for Debt Limit Fight

Bipartisan passage of a $1.1 trillion bill to finance the U.S. government through Sept. 30 clears the way for lawmakers to focus on the next potential fiscal showdown: Raising the federal debt ceiling.

Congress as soon as next month will be confronted with the need to increase borrowing authority, risking a repeat of the partisan discord that last year and in 2011 took the U.S. to the brink of default...

... Obama's budget director, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, called passage of the legislation ``a positive step forward for the nation and our economy.'' In a statement last night, she cited funding for education, infrastructure and innovation...

... Republicans dropped a demand to cut off funding for Obama’s 2010 health care law, a major cause of the October shutdown, after that proved disastrous for the party in public-opinion polls. Democrats accepted far less spending than they had proposed...

... Attention now turns to raising the U.S. debt ceiling... Democrats are sticking to their refusal to consider Republican demands for other fiscal changes in exchange for raising the borrowing limit...

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-16/senate-clears-obama-backed-1-1-trillion-spending-measure.html

... The fiscal focus in Congress now turns to debate over another boost in the $17 trillion federal debt limit. An increase could be needed in as little as six weeks.

Republicans have not said what they will demand in return for lifting the borrowing cap, but House Speaker John Boehner signaled to reporters on Thursday that he has little desire for a massive fight that threatens a damaging U.S. debt default. The United States "shouldn't even get close to it," he told reporters, calling for quick action on a bill to increase the limit.

DEVIL IN DETAILS

The Senate accelerated its normal debate procedures to vote on the spending bill more quickly, avoiding a delayed start to a week-long holiday recess - even though most lawmakers had not read much of the 1,582-page measure.

The massive spending bill was only introduced on Monday evening, and it includes some controversial provisions that are only just now coming to light...

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/17/us-usa-fiscal-vote-idUSBREA0F1W420140117

... Thursday's 72-26 vote in the Senate was preceded by an equally large vote in favour by the Republican-dominated House of Representatives on Wednesday and means the "omnibus" – combining 12 normally separate appropriations bills – will be signed into law by President Obama before Friday's deadline for avoiding a fresh government shutdown.

However the speed with which the final text passed through Congress has raised questions among spending watchdogs about how much scrutiny its hundreds of separate measures have received.

“It’s pretty remarkable for a ‘do nothing’ Congress that this enormous piece of legislation is going through the Capitol like a greased pig,” said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, an independent group that tracks federal spending.

More than 1,000 pages of explanatory notes included a number of surprise measures, such as a request for tighter disclosure requirements for the National Security Agency.

The Washington Post claimed on Thursday that a classified section, which was not published, contained a secret provision to frustrate White House efforts to take responsibility for US drone strikes away from the CIA...

/... http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/17/congress-finally-passes-us-budget