It's nice to have the adults in the room in control for once:
The House on Friday morning overwhelmingly approved a $1.15 trillion spending measure, as part of a sweeping, year-end fiscal deal that also includes a package of tax breaks worth more than $620 billion for businesses and low-income workers. The Senate was also set to approve the legislation, bundled into a single bill, in a fast-track series of votes later Friday morning.
After a period of belt-tightening in Washington — including automatic budget cuts known as sequesters imposed in 2013 — the spending measure provides a notable $66 billion increase in federal outlays above previously agreed-upon limits, divided equally between military and nonmilitary programs, for 2016. It also represents a return to a more traditional appropriations process, with lawmakers directing money to an array of their priorities, including a $1.4 billion increase for military construction projects and $2 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health.
The vote was 316 to 113, with 150 Republicans and 166 Democrats supporting the bill.
The spending measure includes some major policy provisions, including a lifting of the 40-year ban on crude oil exports and the reauthorization and expansion of benefits from emergency workers suffering from health problems related to their work responding to the Sept. 11 attack in New York City.
In response to concerns raised partly by the recent terrorist attacks tied to the Islamic State, the spending measure requires more vigorous security checks as part of the visa-waiver program, by which millions of visitors enter the United States under an expedited process. The package also incorporates legislation that expands the sharing of information between private firms and federal security agencies to prevent cyberattacks.
The White House has said that President Obama will sign the package into law. The administration has expressed particular satisfaction that, after weeks of tense negotiations, it succeeded in fending off numerous policy amendments that Republicans had sought to attach to the spending bill, including efforts to block environmental and labor rules and to impose new restrictions on Syrian and Iraqi refugees coming to the United States.
Speaker Paul D. Ryan, while criticizing the last-minute catchall nature of the legislation, has praised it as a bipartisan compromise.
“The way I look at this is, we have made the best of the situation we have,” Mr. Ryan said at a news conference on Thursday. “There are some really good wins in here for the American people. There are very good wins in here for the economy, for job creators, for taxpayers.”
Some Democrats also claimed a win. “This is a victory for House Democrats and the American people,” said Representative Steve Israel, Democrat of New York. “We started with a bill that had all the bad stuff in and all the good stuff out. We negotiated a bill that has all the bad stuff out and all the good stuff in.”
Since retaking the majority in 2011, most House Republicans have voted against compromise spending measures, forcing party leaders to rely on Democrats for votes. That trend reversed itself on Friday, as a majority in both parties voted in favor of the measure. Marshaling Democratic support proved somewhat challenging, however, because of Democratic opposition to the tax package, which party leaders said favored businesses over the middle class.
“This bill is even referred to as a Christmas tree bill because special interests get special presents, all in ornaments on this tree,” Representative Lloyd Doggett, Democrat of Texas, said in a speech on the House floor on Thursday.
“Like many shoppers out there, they put it all on the credit card, except that it’s your credit card,” Mr. Doggett said, adding, “If you add this much debt unpaid for in a fiscally irresponsible way you begin to jeopardize retirement security, Medicare and Social Security, because those so-called entitlements are next up on the chopping block.”
Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma and a member of the Appropriations Committee, managed much of the floor debate for Republicans and said that all lawmakers could find items to support or oppose in such a huge spending and tax-break package.
“There is much to be proud of in this 2,000-page bill and accompanying explanatory statement,” Mr. Cole said, adding: “This omnibus spending measure is a compromise and a reflection of divided government but it also demonstrates a commitment by both sides toward restoring regular order in this House.”
In the Senate, leaders in each party expressed support for the deal.
“Here’s the bottom line in my view,” the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky said on Thursday. “This legislation is worth supporting.”
Mr. McConnell added, “It’s not perfect and we certainly didn’t get everything we wanted. It makes strides in defending our nation at a time of global unrest. It advances conservative priorities in several areas an enacts significant reform in several areas on everything from tax relief to energy policy to cybersecurity. I plan to vote for it.”
There was also sharp criticism over both process and substance. Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, called it “an affront to the Constitution.”
“A small handful of leaders from the two parties got together behind closed doors to decide what the nation’s taxing and spending policies would be for the next year,” Mr. Lee said in a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday. “And then, after several weeks, the negotiators emerged – grand bargain in hand – confident that the people they deliberately excluded from the policy making process would now support all 2,242 pages of the legislative leviathan that they cooked up. This is not how a self-governing – or self-respecting – institution operates, and everyone here knows it.”
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who is also seeking the Republican nomination for president, had threatened on Thursday to delay passage of the package. Speaking on Fox Television, Mr. Rubio said, “We can slow down the process and force them to make changes and there is no doubt and we can and we should and will. There is an effort with many conservatives to make it happen.”
But shortly after his remarks, Mr. McConnell went to the floor and secured an agreement for a fast-track series of votes on Friday morning — a process that Mr. Rubio could have blocked but did not, much to the relief of his Senate colleagues eager to begin their holiday recess.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/u...n-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
The House on Friday morning overwhelmingly approved a $1.15 trillion spending measure, as part of a sweeping, year-end fiscal deal that also includes a package of tax breaks worth more than $620 billion for businesses and low-income workers. The Senate was also set to approve the legislation, bundled into a single bill, in a fast-track series of votes later Friday morning.
After a period of belt-tightening in Washington — including automatic budget cuts known as sequesters imposed in 2013 — the spending measure provides a notable $66 billion increase in federal outlays above previously agreed-upon limits, divided equally between military and nonmilitary programs, for 2016. It also represents a return to a more traditional appropriations process, with lawmakers directing money to an array of their priorities, including a $1.4 billion increase for military construction projects and $2 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health.
The vote was 316 to 113, with 150 Republicans and 166 Democrats supporting the bill.
The spending measure includes some major policy provisions, including a lifting of the 40-year ban on crude oil exports and the reauthorization and expansion of benefits from emergency workers suffering from health problems related to their work responding to the Sept. 11 attack in New York City.
In response to concerns raised partly by the recent terrorist attacks tied to the Islamic State, the spending measure requires more vigorous security checks as part of the visa-waiver program, by which millions of visitors enter the United States under an expedited process. The package also incorporates legislation that expands the sharing of information between private firms and federal security agencies to prevent cyberattacks.
The White House has said that President Obama will sign the package into law. The administration has expressed particular satisfaction that, after weeks of tense negotiations, it succeeded in fending off numerous policy amendments that Republicans had sought to attach to the spending bill, including efforts to block environmental and labor rules and to impose new restrictions on Syrian and Iraqi refugees coming to the United States.
Speaker Paul D. Ryan, while criticizing the last-minute catchall nature of the legislation, has praised it as a bipartisan compromise.
“The way I look at this is, we have made the best of the situation we have,” Mr. Ryan said at a news conference on Thursday. “There are some really good wins in here for the American people. There are very good wins in here for the economy, for job creators, for taxpayers.”
Some Democrats also claimed a win. “This is a victory for House Democrats and the American people,” said Representative Steve Israel, Democrat of New York. “We started with a bill that had all the bad stuff in and all the good stuff out. We negotiated a bill that has all the bad stuff out and all the good stuff in.”
Since retaking the majority in 2011, most House Republicans have voted against compromise spending measures, forcing party leaders to rely on Democrats for votes. That trend reversed itself on Friday, as a majority in both parties voted in favor of the measure. Marshaling Democratic support proved somewhat challenging, however, because of Democratic opposition to the tax package, which party leaders said favored businesses over the middle class.
“This bill is even referred to as a Christmas tree bill because special interests get special presents, all in ornaments on this tree,” Representative Lloyd Doggett, Democrat of Texas, said in a speech on the House floor on Thursday.
“Like many shoppers out there, they put it all on the credit card, except that it’s your credit card,” Mr. Doggett said, adding, “If you add this much debt unpaid for in a fiscally irresponsible way you begin to jeopardize retirement security, Medicare and Social Security, because those so-called entitlements are next up on the chopping block.”
Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma and a member of the Appropriations Committee, managed much of the floor debate for Republicans and said that all lawmakers could find items to support or oppose in such a huge spending and tax-break package.
“There is much to be proud of in this 2,000-page bill and accompanying explanatory statement,” Mr. Cole said, adding: “This omnibus spending measure is a compromise and a reflection of divided government but it also demonstrates a commitment by both sides toward restoring regular order in this House.”
In the Senate, leaders in each party expressed support for the deal.
“Here’s the bottom line in my view,” the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky said on Thursday. “This legislation is worth supporting.”
Mr. McConnell added, “It’s not perfect and we certainly didn’t get everything we wanted. It makes strides in defending our nation at a time of global unrest. It advances conservative priorities in several areas an enacts significant reform in several areas on everything from tax relief to energy policy to cybersecurity. I plan to vote for it.”
There was also sharp criticism over both process and substance. Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, called it “an affront to the Constitution.”
“A small handful of leaders from the two parties got together behind closed doors to decide what the nation’s taxing and spending policies would be for the next year,” Mr. Lee said in a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday. “And then, after several weeks, the negotiators emerged – grand bargain in hand – confident that the people they deliberately excluded from the policy making process would now support all 2,242 pages of the legislative leviathan that they cooked up. This is not how a self-governing – or self-respecting – institution operates, and everyone here knows it.”
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who is also seeking the Republican nomination for president, had threatened on Thursday to delay passage of the package. Speaking on Fox Television, Mr. Rubio said, “We can slow down the process and force them to make changes and there is no doubt and we can and we should and will. There is an effort with many conservatives to make it happen.”
But shortly after his remarks, Mr. McConnell went to the floor and secured an agreement for a fast-track series of votes on Friday morning — a process that Mr. Rubio could have blocked but did not, much to the relief of his Senate colleagues eager to begin their holiday recess.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/u...n-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
