Posts Tagged ‘Senate’

Congress and President Obama struck a deal to fund the government through next fall and avoided a shutdown.

What, you didn’t know anything about that?  No surprise.  I get the sense that the American people have tuned out the machinations of Washington lately.  I’m going to call it the calm before the storm.  There is no doubt that dark clouds are brewing and it’s going to be pretty rough for Washington – both Democrats and Republicans.

Democrats have more to lose – the Senate and the White House – and the Republicans who lose are more likely to go down in primaries to other Republicans.  Let’s just say there is some serious angst out there.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) cobbled together a tenuous 60-vote block of all Democrats to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed with his healthcare bill late Saturday evening. While he tried to appear triumphant with this accomplishment, it was a short victory lap as many Democrat Senators immediately began to enumerate the various concerns they have with the bill and making it clear that their vote to end debate is very much up in the air.

Patrick O’Connor with Politico is one of the most conscientious reporters on the Hill and his report (along with Carrie Budoff Brown) on the challenges that remain for Reid is one of the best summaries out there.

The bottom line, as articulate by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), is this, “the battle has just begun.”

And certainly it has. With Obama’s poll numbers under 50% and with support for government-run healthcare barely breaking 40%, this is far from over.