Friday, April 8, 2011

One For The Road




We have a (six-day) deal!

Let's hope John Boehner can get a drink before closing time...
The nation's lawmakers reached a last-minute budget deal Friday night, averting a government shutdown just minutes before crossing a deadline that would have shuttered federal facilities and forced hundreds of thousands of workers to be furloughed without pay, House Speaker John A. Boehner said.

In a brief statement to reporters, Mr. Boehner said he was pleased that Republicans and Democrats have "come to an agreement that will in fact cut spending and keep our government open."

He added: "This has been a lot of discussion and a long fight. We fought to keep government spending down."

A Democratic source said negotiators had agreed to spending cuts totaling $38.5 billion and had resolved differences in funding for groups like Planned Parenthood that had been holding up a deal for days.

Mr. Boehner said the two sides had agreed to a six-day "bridge" extension of the government's spending authority in order to turn the agreement's framework into legislation that will fund federal operations through the end of the 2011 fiscal year in September. He said the final vote on the package would take place in the middle of next week.


allvoices

No comments: