House kills stopgap spending bill containing $3.7 billion for disaster aid

[alp227]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON — In a rebuke to GOP leaders, the House on Wednesday rejected a measure providing $3.7 billion for disaster relief as part of a bill to prevent a government shutdown at the end of next week.

The surprise 230-195 defeat came at the hands of Democrats and tea party Republicans.

Democrats were opposed because the measure contains $1.5 billion in cuts to a government loan program to help car companies build fuel-efficient vehicles. For their part, many GOP conservatives felt the underlying bill permits spending at too high a rate.

The outcome sends House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and his leadership team back to the drawing board as they seek to make sure the government doesn’t shut down on Sept. 30, the end of this fiscal year. It also raises the possibility that the government’s main disaster relief program could run out of money early next week for victims of Hurricane Irene and other disasters.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-disaster-aid-vote-sets-up-showdown-with-democratic-senate/2011/09/21/gIQAd5tDkK_singlePage.html

[Javaman]

1. Isn't it nice that disaster relief is the new political volley ball?

thanks repukes, the party of death the house of ghouls.

[alp227]

2. GOP House leaders rebuked on spending

Source: The Washington Post

The surprise defeat in the House Wednesday of a special funding measure to keep the federal government functioning past Sept. 30 was a sharp rebuke of the GOP leadership that controls the chamber and a testament to the fragility of the majority itself.

The rejection of the measure resurrected the specter of a government shutdown at the end of the month and suggested that the heated confrontations that dominated Washington in the spring and early summer are likely to return this fall.

While it is widely expected that the parties will eventually reach a compromise to avoid a shutdown, Wednesday’s 230-to-195 vote showed what can happen when the GOP majority operates with no more than minimal Democratic support.

The failure of the bill was the result of a new solidarity among Democrats on funding issues and old divisions among Republicans on spending reductions.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-gop-leaders-are-dealt-a-surprise-rebuke-in-spending-bills-defeat/2011/09/21/gIQAKFDRmK_story.html

[Lasher]

3. Another angle on this interesting development:

How Democrats' anger at disaster funding helped doom House spending bill

Conservative Republicans joined the Democrats in opposing the spending bill, whose defeat revives the threat of a government shutdown. A way forward for House leaders is unclear.

At the core of the Democrats’ opposition to the funding plan was anger at House majority leader Eric Cantor’s demand that the disaster funding be offset by cuts elsewhere.

But dismay over the disaster funding was not limited to the Democrats. While most GOP naysayers voted against the plan because they said it spent too much, others – especially those in districts recovering from natural disasters – said it spent too little.

“As we speak, people are back home in my district with hip boots throwing out their life’s possessions,” says freshman Rep. Lou Barletta (R) of Pennsylvania, who voted against the bill. “I want to get the most I can for people back home.”

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0921/How-Democrats-anger-at-disaster-funding-helped-doom-House-spending-bill

[Lugnut]

4. I'll be darned.

Lou Barletta voted against the bill and failed to march in lockstep with his leadership.

[No Elephants]

5. How will Barletta vote when Vermont needs funds, though?

I hope this will give him some empathy in similar situations in the future.

[Rincewind]

6. If he had any empathy,

he wouldn't be a republican.

[No Elephants]

7. Anyone else getting tired of both sides crying wolf?

The Republicans remember very well how ADDITIONALLY unpopular shutting down government made them. A number of them have said publicly that they will not do it again.

So, please folks in D.C. on both sides, cut down on the kabuki. You have a very troubled nation to lead. Get to it.

[aquart]

8. Both sides?

What generic Republican congressmen "remember" and what Eric Cantor believes are very different things.

[TomCADem]

9. Blame Democrats, Give Republicans A Free Pass!

The House Republicans are leading the 112th Congress, the worst Congress in history, and Boehner cannot even count votes. It would be great that Boehner and Cantor are always undercutting each other, but the problem is that the Nation has to live with the consequences of their inability to even be able to determine what their caucas will support and how to get their caucas to line up behind one proposal.

[TomCADem]

10. House GOP regroup after loss on spending bill

Source: USA Today

The vote Wednesday on a measure that would fund the U.S. government through mid-November highlighted the strong partisan divide in Washington ahead of next year's elections, as well as the tensions between the Republican leadership and party members allied with the anti-tax, small-government tea party movement.

Republicans now need to make sure the government doesn't shut down on Sept. 30, the end of budget year. More immediate is the risk that the government's main disaster relief program could run out of money by Tuesday or so. That would affect aid to victims of Hurricane Irene, Texas wildfires and other disasters.

Republicans, who won control of the House of Representatives last year largely on the strength of the anti-tax tea party movement, were confident ahead of Wednesday's vote that their bill would pass.

But it was defeated 230-195 after 48 Republicans broke ranks with leadership, viewing the spending in the bill to be excessive. They were joined by most of the Democrats, who opposed $1.5 billion in cuts to a government loan program to help car companies build fuel-efficient vehicles.


Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-22/spending-bill/50509668/1

---

The House Republicans once again show why they are leading the 112th Congress into the record books as the worst Congress ever. Boehner lacks any ability to forge together any sort of compromise, thus he default position is to pander to the most crazy elements of his party.

Of course, the American public has been conditioned to give Republicans a free pass. If the Democrats were in charge, the corporate media would be roasting Nancy Pelosi.

[no_hypocrisy]

11. Frankstein's monster turns on its creator?

How original . . .

[Viva_La_Revolution]

12. Congress flirts with government shutdown after bill fails

Republican leaders were scrambling on Thursday to find the votes to keep the government funded after the embarrassing defeat of a spending bill threw into question Congress' ability to pass basic laws.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/22/us-usa-congress-spending-idUSTRE78K78Z20110922