Senate passes funding bill to avoid October 1 government shutdown

[Gerald]

Reuters) - A deeply divided and unproductive Congress wrapped up its final business before November's elections early on Saturday as the U.S. Senate passed a stopgap measure to fund federal programs and avoid an October 1 government shutdown.The 62-30 vote on the funding bill, which now moves to President Barack Obama's desk to be signed into law, was delayed by days of partisan bickering over votes on unrelated measures aimed at boosting both Democrats' and Republicans' political fortunes.

For the new fiscal year which begins on October 1, the $524 billion measure slightly raises discretionary spending - which funds government agencies and everything from defense to national parks - from current levels.

It was needed because Congress' normal process of appropriating money for government operations broke down amid disagreements between Democrat and Republicans over spending levels and funding was due to run out after September 30.

"It is an inefficient way to fund the federal government but it is better than shutting it down next week," said Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/22/us-usa-congress-shutdown-idUSBRE88L03720120922

Note: Sat Sep 22, 2012 2:41am EDT

[Skybird]

From summer last year:

LINK (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/trillion_the_shocking_true_size_tOxcrobUBUup9IEW3v QAhJ)

LINK2 (http://grandfather-economic-report.com/debt-nat.htm)

Say Hello! to a bright future.

[Jimbuna]

From summer last year:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/trillion_the_shocking_true_size_tOxcrobUBUup9IEW3v QAhJ

http://grandfather-economic-report.com/debt-nat.htm


Say Hello! to a bright future.

You know what Sky...you can sometimes be as cynical as us Brits but that isn't always a bad thing :)

[Skybird]

That's no cynism, but sadness smiling a grim and defiant smile.

[Jimbuna]

Yeah i know what you mean :yep:

[Kloef]

Not a situation you want to be in as a country..i hope time will heal this gaping wound in your economy, this is bad for the rest of the world too.

[eddie]

What is sad too is, that they have adjourned. They need a break from all the hard work they have been doing, 11 days only have they been in session, 2 days in August, 9 days in September and won't do anything in October. And they need a raise?:haha: Its pathetic!

[Jimbuna]

What is sad too is, that they have adjourned. They need a break from all the hard work they have been doing, 11 days only have they been in session, 2 days in August, 9 days in September abd won't do anything in October. And they need a raise?:haha: Its pathetic!

Good points :)

[soopaman2]

It is really hard pandering to the super-rich donors, and even harder trying to keep their money coming in.

It must be so hard to live with all that "lobbying" to supplement that oh so meager congressional pay, and the "Caddillac" health care they receive on our dime is so substandard. They would prefer a Maserati, or a porsch plan. After all, they don't gotta pay for it! (typical government employee)

Maybe the credit downgrading thanks to our fiscal conservative tea-billies last year, and being an election year, made them realize they should pass some token bull-feces to pacify the American, and combat their all time low approval ratings.

Smoke and mirrors.

[mookiemookie]

Maybe the credit downgrading thanks to our fiscal conservative tea-billies last year, and being an election year, made them realize they should pass some token bull-feces to pacify the American, and combat their all time low approval ratings.

Smoke and mirrors.

Approval ratings don't mean squat to these idiots. Ask the average american how Congress is doing, and they'll say horrible. Ask them how their own rep/senator is doing, and they're likely to say that they're not the problem. It's always someone else.

[soopaman2]

Approval ratings don't mean squat to these idiots. Ask the average american how Congress is doing, and they'll say horrible. Ask them how their own rep/senator is doing, and they're likely to say that they're not the problem. It's always someone else.

Fine statement and analysis.:salute:


It is (IMHO) the innate human ability we all have to blame others for our own strifes. To distance ourselves from bad decisions.

That transcends politics, and pushes more into psychology.:)

I used to be quite a drinker, but what I learned was I always looked for excuses to drink. I am sad, had a bad day at work, old lady is mad at me. etc..Blame blame blame. But not addressing my own weaknesses. Not owning up to my own part in it.

[Skybird]

I came to the conclusion that human nature will always mess up all government, no matter the format. We will always mess it up, because we are how we are, and we are in principal a kit of (intellectual) high tech hardware run by an operation system from the stoneage.

This makes me turning my head towards solutions sometimes described in Science Fiction. The possibility of mankind being governed unbiased and invulnerable to any kind of corruption by an artifical intelligence, or an alien intelligence, or operating within a kind of infrastructure that by its very own structure prevents manipulation and selfishness of those interacting by it. In a way, Daniel Suarez' current bestseller "Daemon" and "Darknet" describe an example of the latter, although pumped up with plenty of action and drama, but the basic idea is interesting.

One thing is for sure: human government forms all fall to corruption and tyranny sooner or later. All. Democracy - obviously was not the answer to this millenia old, existential problem.

[mookiemookie]

So what you're saying is Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried, right?