UPDATE 2-Democrats push on spending as gov't shutdown looms

Dems: One Big Happy Family -- Addams Family (update)
It wasn’t exactly a Democratic lovefest when President Obama signed his nearly $900 billion Tax Cut and jobless benefits bill at the White House this afternoon, adding to the $13.7 Trillion federal Deficit. While Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky were at the signing ceremony, missing from the guest list were Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The Democratic leaders were invited, but had Scheduling Conflicts, aides said. Il...

Reid calls for passage of lands bill, Republians underscore opposition
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called Friday for passage this year of a package of more than 100 land and water bills. But Republicans quickly underscored their opposition to portions of the Legislation, arguing it has little chance of gaining the necessary votes for passage. “I want to get this package done before Congress adjourns,” Reid said in a statement Friday evening. “These are Bipartisan bills. There is nothing divisive about protecting historic battlefields, improvi

Democratic no-shows as interesting as attendees at Obama tax signing
(CNN) - Not being in the picture at a Presidential bill signing may well speak a thousand words. Standing alongside President Obama as he signed the bill extending the Bush-era Tax Cuts into law on Friday were several members of Congress including Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky among others. Yet there were many members of the Democratic Caucus who were noticeably absent from the ceremony- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelos...

Graham: If START Fails, Don't Blame GOP
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) vented some frustration outside the Senate chamber Friday, pushing back at accusations that Republicans are trying to run out the clock on New START. “Maybe we’ve been spending a little time trying to beat the $1.2 Trillion spending bill that was a monstrosity… Graham told reporters. “Well, do you think [it’s] dead because we sat on our butt?” he asked. “We’ve been working our ass off, quite frankly, to keep the lame ...

Dream Act Headed for Senate Vote
Source: New York Times Latino leaders have turned up the pressure on senators facing a vote on Saturday on a bill that would grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of Illegal Immigrant Students, saying support of the measure will be used as a litmus test by Latino voters in the 2012 Elections. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Majority Leader, scheduled the vote on the student measure, which is known as the DREAM Act late on Thursday. The Senate will vote on a version of the bill that passe...

Dream Act Headed for Senate Vote
Source: New York Times Latino leaders have turned up the pressure on senators facing a vote on Saturday on a bill that would grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of Illegal Immigrant Students, saying support of the measure will be used as a litmus test by Latino voters in the 2012 Elections. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Majority Leader, scheduled the vote on the student measure, which is known as the DREAM Act late on Thursday. The Senate will vote on a version of the bill that passe...

Reid adds lands bill to Senate load
As if Democrats did not have enough on their plates in the lame-duck session, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Friday that he has introduced yet another piece of Legislation – a lands bill that would designate wilderness areas in three different states and add thousands of miles to the national trail system. Reid plans to call several votes in the final days of the lame-duck session on the DREAM Act and the Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” as well a ...

House funds govt for 3 days
Published: Dec. 17, 2010 at 5:47 PM WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. House Friday decided to fund the government only for three more days, meaning members will have to stay in Washington next week. House and Senate negotiators have been working on a Budget bill and House leaders had hoped an agreement could be worked out to allow for adjournment. But without an agreement in sight, House leaders decided to fund the government for just 72 hours and reconvene Tuesday, The Hill reported. "There...

Extension Of Bush Tax Cuts Passes; Pork Laden Spending Bill Goes Down
So I’m sure you’ve heard by now. The House of Representatives passed the bill that will extend the Bush Tax Cuts, renew Unemployment Benefits for 13 months, and cut Social Security taxes for one year late last night. The roll call showed it was a total landslide at 277-148. Democrats had 139 yeas and 112 nays while the Republicans has 138-36 Go here to see the roll call and find out how they voted. The Democrats tried to pass a higher estate tax but that went down in flames also at 2...

With big spending bill's demise, is 'earmark' new dirty word on Hill?
Deficit hawks and Watchdog groups see Thursday's demise of an omnibus spending bill in the Senate as a turning point. A critical mass of lawmakers, they say, are committed to an earmark ban. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., holds a copy of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington Thursday. There was no last hurrah for Earmarks - known to supporters as “congressionally mandated spending,” and to critics a...

Transparency Killed The Earmarking Stars?
How often do omnibus spending bills go down to defeat?  Approximately … never, as Dave Weigel reminds us, and pork is usually the reason why.  Not only do Omnibus Bills appear only when the budgeting process has failed and funding becomes an urgent issue, they also get so large and stuffed with perks that few dare to challenge them. In this case, though, earmark reformers got the edge thanks to the series of measures designed to impose transparency on pork requests.   While some

Oops! How the Food Safety Bill Passed Congress, But Really Didn't
ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe reports: Congress has a lot of odd rules, but one of the more basic ones is that revenue measures must originate in the House of Representatives, not the Senate. That rule now appears to have caused the demise of the Food Safety bill. Yes, the Food Safety bill that passed the House and then passed the Senate now looks unlikely to pass Congress this year. How? It’s a long story, but it starts well over a year ago. In July 2009 the House passed a sweeping food safety...

Obama: Tax deal will 'create jobs for the American people'
President Obama signed a temporary extension of the George W. Bush Tax Cuts into law today, saying the disputed package will "grow our economy" and "create jobs for the American People." Without the bill, all of the Tax Cuts that Bush signed into law would have expired at the end of the year, and American families would be looking at thousands of dollars in higher taxes, Obama said at a signing ceremony. The Legislation is "a substantial victory for middle-class families across the country," Oba...

House Republicans Block Bill Aiming to Prevent Child Marriage
ABC News’ John R. Parkinson  & Matthew Jaffe  report: You'd think preventing Child Marriage would be an issue both parties in Congress could agree on. You'd be wrong. This week, House Republicans blocked passage of a Bipartisan bill to protect women and girls in Developing Countries from child marriages. The bill needed a two-thirds majority of the House to pass, but fell short by the count of 241-166. The International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage A...

Aw: Post-partisan president signs bipartisan bill that no one likes
Present for the event to lend it some added gravitas: Al Sharpton. Conspicuously absent: Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Boehner, all of whom were cut out of The One’s negotiations with Senate Republicans. (McConnell, as you’ll see, is right there by Obama’s side.) Waiting off-camera in the briefing room to do damage control just in case something went wrong: No, not Bill Clinton. Someone with an even higher Approval Rating. Exit question via Krauthammer: What have we done? ...

Deficit reduction: Why it may not be dead despite the costly tax cut deal
The Tax Cut deal that President Obama signed Friday costs $858 billion, making the cause of Deficit reduction that much more challenging. But Deficit hawks still see some hopeful signs. President Barack Obama smiles after signing into law a bill extending Bush-era tax cuts at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington Friday. With President Obama's signing of a historic tax-cut agreement Friday, Deficit hawks may be in mourning. The deal costs $858 billion, and it’s all paid fo...

Tea Party Kills $1 Trillion Bill But Dont Rest Yet
Ben Johnson, FloydReports.com Both Republicans and Democrats agree on one thing: The Tea Party deserves credit for killing the Democrats’ $1.27 Trillion spendfest and power grab. After realizing he lacked enough Republican or Democratic votes, Harry Reid withdrew the bill last night. As tempted as Conservatives may be to pat themselves on the back and celebrate more important things, like Christmas, we must not rest. Congressional liberals have one last assault on liberty planned for thi...

Begich: Sorry about those earmarks, Alaska
From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. -- Earmarks have taken a hit in recent weeks, and only in Alaska would a senator apologize for not being able to deliver them. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaksa, did just that, though, in a letter to Alaska organizations that had earmarks in an omnibus spending bill that fell apart last night. "I am disappointed, plain and simple, since we have worked in a Bipartisan manner to create a bill that contains projects as requested by nearly every Senator," he wrote. "M...

GOP Senate Aide: The Bill Wasnt Going to Be Read
At one point yesterday, according to a Senate Republican leadership aide, Democrats were telling reporters to “watch the floor” for action on the Omnibus Bill. GOP critics had pushed for all 1,924 pages of the Legislation to read aloud by Senate clerks — which would have taken an estimated 50 hours — but Democrats were planning to block this maneuver using a procedural trick. “The bill wasn’t going to be read,” says the Republican aide. “We were go...

Holiday tax bill is law _ help for rich and poor
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama signed into law a huge, holiday-season tax bill extending cuts for all Americans on Friday, saluting a new spirit of political Compromise as Republicans applauded and liberals seethed. The benefits range from Tax Cuts for Millionaires and the Middle Class to longer help for the jobless. The most significant tax Legislation in nearly a decade will avert big increases that would have hit millions of people starting in two weeks on New Year's Day. Declared ...

Food safety bill could die (the one that already passed)
Source: CNN Washington (CNN) -- A sweeping Food Safety bill that passed the House and Senate earlier this year before stalling because of a legislative technicality now will likely die because Republicans object to giving it quick approval in the waning days of the congressional session, Senate leadership aides on both sides of the aisle said Friday. The bill, designed to increase government inspections of the food supply in the wake of recent deadly food borne disease outbreaks, originally pass...

Daily scoreboard
1. From the Associated Press: “A massive Bipartisan tax package preventing a big New Year’s Day tax hike for millions of Americans is on its way to President Barack Obama for his signature.” It is a sad day when we rejoice because our Overlords in the Washington Legislature won’t raise our taxes. GOOD. 2. From the Las Vegas Review-Journal: “Unemployment in the Silver State rose from 14.2 percent in October to 14.3 percent in November, the State Department of Emplo...

Sour Grapes: Nancy Pelosi And Harry Reid Skip Obamas Signing Of Bush Tax Cuts Deal
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will skip President Obama’s bill-signing ceremony for the tax-cut Compromise at the White House on Friday. Spokespeople for both offices said the Democratic leaders would be taking care of business on the floor of the Senate and the House and wouldn’t be able to make it. “Senator Reid cannot make every bill signing and right now he is focused on taking care of everything we need to get done before the end of the...

Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi Fail to Show Up for Tax Cut Signing
I guess they don't want to be associated with Tax Cuts. It might offend their Liberal Base. (Politico) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will skip President Obama’s bill-signing ceremony for the tax-cut Compromise at the White House on Friday. Spokespeople for both offices said the Democratic leaders would be taking care of business on the floor of the Senate and the House and wouldn’t be able to make it....

President signs tax extension bill; Reid, Pelosi absent
On Friday, President Obama signed the bill extending the Bush Tax Cuts for two years, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) were conspicuously absent. Reverend Al Sharpton was at the event, as were the Vice President and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Four other Republicans — Representatives Charles Boustany, Dave Camp, Tim Murphy and Dave Reichert were present as well as several Democratic members of the House and Senate. Accord...