Finally. My friend John can get back to work.
The Story:
Moving with stunning speed, Congress voted Wednesday to end the 16-day-old government shutdown and avert the potential for the first major debt default in U.S. history in a deal that gave President Obama most of what he sought — an open government and more borrowing authority without denting Obamacare.
The Senate voted 81-18 to approve the deal and sent it over to the House, which quickly followed suit with a 285-144 vote on the measure — amounting to an almost complete surrender for the GOP.
Mr. Obama signed the bill immediately early Thursday.
“There’s a lot of work ahead of us, including our need to earn back the trust of the American people that’s been lost over the last few weeks,” he said. “With the shutdown behind us and budget committees forming, we now have the opportunity to focus on a sensible budget that is responsible, that is fair and that helps hard-working people all across this country.”
House Republicans saw the vote chiefly as a way to bring an end to a bruising fight that saw the GOP sink to historic lows in approval ratings, and that exposed deep party divisions over tactics and policy.
“This legislation must be supported, but it should not be celebrated,” said Rep. Charlie Dent, Pennsylvania Republican, who had been begging his party to end the shutdown. “It’s not a win for anyone — not the institution of Congress, nor the president, for that matter.”
Still to be seen is whether the deal subdues the tea party, which had helped push Republicans to take a stand that in hindsight appears to have been futile.
via Shutdown over: House approves Senate budget deal; avoids debt default – Washington Times.
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