Senators Avert Shutdown of Government

[Flying Horse]

The US Senate passed the bill to avert government shutdown which must now be singed off on by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives The breakthrough came hours after the FEMA indicated it had enough money for disaster relief efforts through Friday. That disclosure allowed lawmakers to jettison a $1 billion replenishment that had been included in the measure — and to crack the gridlock it had caused. By a bipartisan vote of 79-12, the Democratic-controlled Senate approved the bill. If the House signs off on it, the bill assures there would be no interruption in assistance in areas battered by disasters and the government would be able to run nrmally when the new budget year begins Saturday. "This compromise should satisfy Republicans...and it should satisfy Democrats," said Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, who added that Budget Director Jacob Lew had informed him that FEMA did not need any additional funding to meet its needs for the final few days of the budget year. House Republicans insisted that any new disaster aid for the expiring budget year be offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget, a decision that Democrats seized on in hopes of reshaping the political terrain to their advantage. While it was unclear precisely how long FEMA's remaining funds would last, one official said the agency began conserving funds last month as Hurricane Irene approached the U.S. mainland, prioritizing its aid to help individual disaster victims and pay states and local governments for immediate needs such as removing debris and building sand bag barricades. Funding of $450 million has been put on hold for longer-term needs such as reconstruction of damaged roads, the official said. In addition, the agency has been able to reclaim unused money from past disasters. So it's now all up to the House.
I hope that their assumed agreement is true. I'm sick and tired of all this nonsense. I thought the super-committee tasked with presenting a plan of where and how to cut the federal budget was supposed to avoid this nonsense. Richt now I think that we, the American public, should vote out of office every single House incombent and start all over. Unfortunately, we can't do the same with the Senate.