Where have I been all day, you're probably asking. The most correct and proper answer is, "None of your business." The polite answer, while not being inaccurate, is, "There just hasn't been anything in the headlines that was worth writing about." Especially since I refused, and refuse, to take the WaPo's bleep-stirring bait about the RNC preparing for a brokered Republican National Convention, which is far more about simply being prepared for a triple-threat or fatal-four-way scenario where no one candidate has enough delegates to clinch the GOP nomination than it is a super-secret-smoked-filled room scenario for the "establishment" to "have its revenge" and roll out Mitt Romney to universal horror next July. Gentle Ben snarfed it right down, though, which is more than a little sad.
This is most definitely an aloha-Friday, alright, and, I think, sets the record for how long into a day I've gone before finding something worthy of my attention.
And this is what I came up with:
The House of Representatives on Friday passed a bill funding the government through Wednesday, giving congressional negotiators more time to work on a $1.15 trillion bill paying for federal programs through September.
By a voice vote, the House passed the stop-gap bill that was approved by the Senate on Thursday.
Without the legislation, federal agencies would have run out of money at midnight, forcing the closing of national parks and threatening to disrupt programs ranging from veterans' assistance to education loans.
No muss, no fuss, no drama. Just straightforward, "We're incapable of legislating in a conventional, comprehensive, coherent manner" candor. Kind of refreshing, actually.
Looks like they might have short-sheeted their scheduling bed, though:
But Congress looked set to push up against the new deadline next week as talks on legislation to fund the government through September 2016 dragged on over efforts to attach controversial policy provisions to the spending measure. Those included Republican proposals to lift a ban on crude oil exports and tighten screening of Syrians seeking refuge in the United States.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the earliest votes planned for next week would take place on Tuesday evening, giving the Senate just over twenty-four hours to meet the new funding deadline.
And the Senate is legendary and renowned for their ability to move quickly.
Remember when looming government shutdowns used to be a big deal, and Tea Partiers were insatiably consumed with them as a tactic? Boy, Mitch McConnell has sure punctured that balloon, hasn't he?
Still, I imagine that Paul Ryan is going to be taking a great, big Cleveland steamer in John Boehner's Christmas card envelope this year. Pity we can't all chip in, huh?
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