CaseyJones
01-16-2014, 11:36 PM
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/ted-cruz-obamacare-affordable-care-act-senate-vote-102285.html
A landmark $1.1 trillion spending bill cleared Congress Thursday evening after conservative resistance collapsed in the Senate and tea party favorite Ted Cruz dropped his insistence on a vote on funding for President Barack Obama’s health care plan.
On back-to-back 72-26 roll calls, senators voted to cut off debate and then quickly adopted the bill, which keeps the government funded through September.
Seventeen Republicans backed passage, but as with the December budget accord, a majority did not. The divisions show again how much the Senate –even more than the House—has become a partisan battleground. Once again Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) opted to be a “nay” despite the overwhelming support of House Republicans for the measure.
The giant package, which Obama has pledged to sign, is very much a product of that same budget agreement last month. But if December set the limits on spending, this bill now spells out where the dollars will go. And as such, it sets a new template for appropriations for the remainder of the president’s second term.
A landmark $1.1 trillion spending bill cleared Congress Thursday evening after conservative resistance collapsed in the Senate and tea party favorite Ted Cruz dropped his insistence on a vote on funding for President Barack Obama’s health care plan.
On back-to-back 72-26 roll calls, senators voted to cut off debate and then quickly adopted the bill, which keeps the government funded through September.
Seventeen Republicans backed passage, but as with the December budget accord, a majority did not. The divisions show again how much the Senate –even more than the House—has become a partisan battleground. Once again Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) opted to be a “nay” despite the overwhelming support of House Republicans for the measure.
The giant package, which Obama has pledged to sign, is very much a product of that same budget agreement last month. But if December set the limits on spending, this bill now spells out where the dollars will go. And as such, it sets a new template for appropriations for the remainder of the president’s second term.