Late last night, the House voted to fund the government, delay Obamacare for a year, eliminate the medical device tax, and a bill that requires the military get paid in case of a government shutdown. The government funding and the Obamacare delay bill and the medical device tax amendment are in one bill, which the Senate is expected to reject, thus setting up the shutdown of the government.
The amendment dealing with the delay passed by a 231-192 margin. Eliminating the medical device tax passed 248-174 and the measure assuring the military will be mpaid, passed unanimously, 423-0. The current breakdown of the House is 234-R and 201-D.
The democrats in the Senate could face some serious problems. They will vote down the budget/Obamacare delay/medical device tax repeal, and try to blame it on republicans. Their problem is they have delayed mandates for businesses, unions, and insurance companies and then would need to explain why taxpayers don't deserve the same treatment, especially after voting themselves out of Obamacare.
Harry Reid has already declared the bill DOA and the White House has announced that the president would veto the bill if passed. The Senate does not come back into session until 2PM on Monday, almost guaranteeing a shutdown of the government.
The bill providing for pay for the military will likely pass, as no one wants to appear anti military before the all important 2014 midterm elections. Democrats will want to avoid a repeat of allowing Obama to decide where the cuts would be made. During sequester, Obama cancelled the White House tours, operated mainly by volunteers.
The savings from shutting down the tours is excedingly small. It cost the same to run the tours for a year as two hours of air time for Air Force One. Obama's exotic African trip cost as much as it cost to keep the tours open for 26 years. It has been a public relations disaster to keep school kids from attending these tours while the president spends lavishly on parties and expensive vacations. Let them eat arugula!!!
Once the shutdown is in place, like for Obama to use it to cause as much pain as he can for as many as he can, while leaving wasteful programs intact, just as he did with sequester. Joe manchin, D-WV has already says he favors a delay.
