Stopgap

WASHINGTON - No longer interested in shutting down the government, the Republican-led House approved legislation Thursday to keep it running into next year, jettisoning the GOP's earlier strategy of using the annual federal funding bill as leverage to extract spending cuts. The House approved the measure, 329 to 91. The Senate, where Democrats hold a narrow majority, is expected to approve it before the Oct. 1 deadline, averting a government shutdown at the start of the new fiscal year.

Are we about to go over a fiscal cliff? It's looking more likely, but it may not be as alarming as it sounds. Here are three things you need to know about the impending crisis over the so-called fiscal cliff, the combination of tax increases and automatic spending cuts due to kick in at the turn of the year: First, it's not really a cliff; it's merely a steep, scary slope. If Congress doesn't act, federal taxes will increase by more than $500 billion next year and federal spending will be cut by about $200 billion.

The Senate on Thursday approved a spending measure that keeps the federal government open for three more weeks, likely the final short-term resolution before Congress and the White House must agree on a final budget for the fiscal year. The vote was 87-13 to approve the bill, which brings to $10 billion the total amount cut from 2010 spending levels. Like the similar vote in the House on Tuesday, the legislation generated greater opposition from increasingly vocal conservative Republicans eager to see cuts on par with the $60-billion figure that the lower chamber approved last month.

WASHINGTON - Congress will meet for only a few final days this week to enable lawmakers to campaign full time in the battle for control of Capitol Hill, leaving much business undone until after the election. The House convenes for three days to wrap up its work, while the Senate, where Democrats have the majority, is considering a similar truncated schedule. Lawmakers had initially been scheduled to work through the first week of October. The one must-pass piece of legislation - a bill to keep the government funded once the new fiscal year begins Oct.1 - is set for final approval this week in the Senate after having already cleared the House.

The GOP-led House approved a short-term spending bill Tuesday but only after dozens of Republicans rejected the measure, forcing party leaders to rely on Democrats to achieve passage and help skirt a threatened government shutdown. The vote showed the mounting difficulty of resolving a budget stalemate that has consumed Washington for weeks. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill before Friday, when government funding to keep agencies operating runs out. But similar resistance from conservatives is expected in that chamber.

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin Monday said he will oppose extending the federal government’s debt limit unless it is part of a broader plan to deal with financial issues. Speaking at the University of Charleston, Manchin, a former governor who has been at odds with his own party before, challenged Democrats and Republicans to find common ground on the budget. “We must get our fiscal house in order,” the West Virginia senator said in remarks released by his office.

A nearly empty Senate gave final congressional approval Wednesday to stopgap legislation that will provide money for the federal government through Nov. 14 and allow Congress more time to finish work on the annual money bills for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The measure, which the House passed on a 272-156 vote last week, was sent to the White House on a voice vote. President Reagan is expected to sign it.

The Senate, trying to buy a little more time to pass the largest spending bill in history, approved today and sent President Reagan a fourth temporary measure to keep the government running--this time until Friday. White House spokesman Larry Speakes said Reagan will sign the stopgap measure, lasting until midnight tonight, because Congress is making progress on long-term legislation that is needed to allow the government to spend money through Sept. 30, 1987.

House Republican leaders, bowing to pressure from both the White House and their Senate colleagues, agreed to a stopgap measure that will forestall a tax increase on American workers that was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. The deal is expected to come to a vote Friday under procedures that would require all members in both chambers to agree. If any members object, Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) would call the House back into full session next week for a vote, he told reporters Thursday.

Congressional budget negotiators are expected to work through the weekend on a $33-billion spending reduction package, but the two sides remain far apart on details and have little time to vote before Friday's deadline to avoid a federal government shutdown. It appears increasingly likely that another stopgap measure — the seventh this fiscal year — may be needed as Republican and Democratic appropriators try to decide which domestic programs and services to cut for the remainder of 2011.

WASHINGTON - No longer interested in shutting down the government, the Republican-led House approved legislation Thursday to keep it running into next year, jettisoning the GOP's earlier strategy of using the annual federal funding bill as leverage to extract spending cuts. The House approved the measure, 329 to 91. The Senate, where Democrats hold a narrow majority, is expected to approve it before the Oct. 1 deadline, averting a government shutdown at the start of the new fiscal year.

Cadillac's all-new flagship sedan, the XTS, is apparently a little confused about the difference between intern and interim. You and I both know that someone in an interim role will temporarily yet capably fill a vacant position. Meanwhile, interns sometimes stumble through tasks that might seem straightforward. The 2013 XTS is an interim at the top of Cadillac's sedan lineup. What came out was closer to an intern. General Motors' luxury marque has been without a flagship sedan since 2011, when the DTS and STS sedans reached the end of their life cycles.

With just days to go before the clock runs out, Congress appears ready to forge a reasonable compromise to keep interest rates low on federally subsidized college loans for the coming year. Without action, the rates would double from 3.4% to 6.8% on July 1. Under the compromise, Congress would keep the interest rates at their current level, raising much of the $6 billion it would cost to fill the gap by charging companies more to insure their pension programs, with proceeds to go toward the student loans.

Neil Olshey has listened to everyone clamoring for the Clippers to make a move before Thursday's noon (PST) trade deadline in an attempt to stop the team's current slide. The Clippers' vice president of basketball operations has heard from his coaching staff, the team's fans and media, all of them stressing the need to acquire a player in the wake of Chauncey Billups' season-ending Achilles' tendon injury that appears to have shaken the team. Olshey is making and taking phone calls from other general managers.

House Republican leaders, bowing to pressure from both the White House and their Senate colleagues, agreed to a stopgap measure that will forestall a tax increase on American workers that was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. The deal is expected to come to a vote Friday under procedures that would require all members in both chambers to agree. If any members object, Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) would call the House back into full session next week for a vote, he told reporters Thursday.

With no endgame in sight to prevent a looming payroll tax hike, President Obama and congressional leaders took turns trying to convince Americans that they were hard at work to save the tax break - even though Congress has essentially closed for the holidays. Obama called House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) on Wednesday to nudge him to compromise. Boehner assembled his top negotiators but, with no one to negotiate with, they talked among themselves. House Democratic leaders staged a lonely protest on the empty House floor, shouting for the chance to bring a bipartisan tax break bill to a vote.

California Lottery Director M. Mark Michalko said Friday that the state will award a ticket contract for a single game as a stopgap measure to avoid running out of tickets. Michalko said he will proceed with bids on a pact to supply subsequent games. Michalko announced plans earlier this week to end the state's pact with Georgia-based Scientific Games Inc.

Re "NASA in Wonderland," editorial, Dec. 15: Returning men to the moon is "scientifically poor"? When you consider that the plug was pulled just as it became possible for astronauts to stay there long enough to do any but the most trivial of research, we don't know anything of the sort. We have no idea what further exploration will teach us; we've barely started. At the moment, I'd say the first priority is to replace the aging stopgap shuttle fleet with the more modern surface-to-orbit craft currently under development.

Just as Congress appeared to have prevented a government shutdown, attention turned to how to avoid another one when the stopgap funding runs out in a matter of weeks. Congress can't seem to get off the showdown treadmill — an endless loop of one-upmanship that has helped build the toxic political environment dominating Washington. Yes, a bipartisan deal was reached Monday night to fund the government for seven weeks and resolve a dispute over disaster aid, averting a federal shutdown at the end of the week.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday quickly and unanimously passed a bill temporarily extending funding for the Federal Aviation Administration and federal highway programs.   Funding for more than a million federal employees and construction jobs was set to expire by Oct. 1 if extensions were not passed, and though both parties had their misgivings about the bill, no House members wanted to be tied to such a job loss. The FAA's funding through Jan. 31 comes from the 22nd consecutive extension bill since the last long-term funding bill for it expired in 2007.