A short-term budget deal would set spending levels and turn off unpopular cuts for two years.

Budget negotiators were set to announce Tuesday an agreement on a two-year budget deal to set spending levels for the federal government and replace unpopular spending cuts with other savings.

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., are spearheading negotiations that intensified in recent days as a Dec. 13 deadline approaches.

If successful, the deal would put the congressional budget process back on track, allowing for passage of the 12 annual spending bills that cover federal spending other than mandatory programs like Social Security and Medicare. It would also eliminate the threat of another government shutdown.

The budget framework would set top-line spending figures for the next two fiscal years and replace for two years the sequester — the across-the-board spending cuts triggered earlier this year following prior failures to reach a budget agreement –– with other cuts and non-tax revenues.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/12/10/congress-budget-deal/3966641/

'The deal is not going to be what mainstream Republicans hoped for'


An array of powerful outside conservative groups have united to tank the emerging budget deal being negotiated by party leaders.

FreedomWorks is planning to oppose the deal “in its current reported form,” while Heritage Action and CATO have also announced their disapproval of the agreement being hammered by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the respective House and Senate budget committee chairs.

“The deal is not going to be what mainstream Republicans hoped for,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee. “It’ll probably turn out to be a very tough call for a lot of people who want to have an agreement but also want to see progress made in certain areas.”

“I don’t think a deal has to be reached if it’s not a good deal,” said Sessions, who added that it would be “healthy” if the sides could reach an agreement. While Ryan and Murray have marked Friday as their deadline, government funding doesn’t dry up until mid-January. Sessions said it was his understanding that Murray and Ryan will meet Tuesday afternoon to continue negotiations.



Read more: Washington Budget: Conservatives Oppose Paul Ryan-Patty Murray Plan | TIME.com http://swampland.time.com/2013/12/10/conservative-groups-try-to-kill-emerging-budget-agreement/

Keep repeating to myself: have faith in Bernie, have faith in Bernie, have faith in Bernie, have faith in Bernie, ...

Whatever the deal is, I have a feeling I'd prefer an impasse.

Unemployment insurance?
Surely Ryan wanted a a showpiece.

... but everytime i see the smarmy smug mug of Paul Ryan, i get queasy

Congressional negotiators reached a modest budget agreement Tuesday to restore about $65 billion in automatic spending cuts from programs ranging from parks to the Pentagon, with votes expected in both houses by week's end.

Officials said the increases would be offset by a variety of spending reductions and increased fees elsewhere in the budget totaling about $85 billion over a decade, enough for a largely symbolic cut of roughly $20 billion in the nation's $17 trillion debt.

Among them is a requirement for federal workers to make larger contributions to their own pensions, as well as an increase in a federal security fee that would add $5 to the cost of a typical roundtrip flight.

Officials said Democrats had failed in their bid to include an extension of benefits for workers unemployed longer than 26 weeks. The program expires on Dec. 28, when payments will be cut off for an estimated 1.3 million individuals.

Announcement of the deal came in the form of a statement that the two negotiators, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who planned a news conference to announce details. The lawmakers chair the budget committees in the two houses of Congress, and negotiated the deal in secretive talks over recent weeks.

Officials said that under the agreement, an estimated $65 billion in automatic spending cuts would be restored through the end of the next budget year, which runs to Sept. 30, 2015.

Officials who described the details in advance of the news conference did so on the condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to speak on the record.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/us_politics/2013/12/bipartisan_negotiators_reach_modest_budget_pact

"Among them is a requirement for federal workers to make larger contributions to their own pensions, as well as an increase in a federal security fee that would add $5 to the cost of a typical roundtrip flight."

As usual we the (real) people get screwed while corporate welfare continues...

I am supposed to feel good about this? Fat chance!

http://www.c-span.org

eventhough it wont get enough votes for the Hastert Rule?

The Republican efforts to tank the economy through austerity for the poor and middle class have received a major set back. It seems that the Democrats are going to improve the economy in spite of conservative obstructionism for the last five years.

But those cuts will have to paid for out of programs on "auto-pilot," Ryan said. I read that as social programs, of course.

They can first be taxed at 90 percent again, then we'll see where we are.