The stopgap spending bill expires today (Friday).
The Senate majority leader (Harry Reid) assumed that they would be able to pass the $410 billion Omnibus Budget Bill last night or today (60 votes are required). So, instead of making sure that he had all the votes; he and others decided to spend Thursday at the White House for the big "Health Care Reform Summit".
Well, guess what? They are a few votes short! Two democratic senators oppose it, due to the amount of spending and earmarks. (As a reminder, this represents an 8% increase over last years spending; and includes money for programs that have already been allocated funds as part of the "stimulus" package).
So what happens next? A stopgap measure to provide funding at current levels is in place for next week. Senator Reid expects to vote on it again as early as next Tuesday.
It is not too late to contact your senators over the weekend or Monday.
One possible outcome is to just pass a bill that keeps spending flat, which would save about $20 billion.
Here's a piece from the New York Times.
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