House Approves $1.1T Spending Bill

Obama welcomed the sprawling legislation, a rare compromise product of the divided government. “But it is a budget that, as I insisted, invests in our military and our middle class without ideological provisions that would have weakened Wall Street reform or rules on big polluters”.

Conservative anger has also been defused partially by new House Speaker Paul Ryan’s efforts to seek their input more regularly and his pledges to avoid a year-end spending standoff next year, a promise that will be hard to keep.

“The way I look at this is, we have made the best of the situation we have”, Ryan said. “I think its legislation worth supporting”.

In a chaotic year, when Republicans in the House unseated a speaker, Congress produced a significant amount of bipartisan legislation that affects every American.

“This is a good bill, this is an fantastic bill”, said Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, during the floor debate.

The House easily passed a $1.14 trillion spending bill to fund the government through next September, capping a peaceful end to a yearlong struggle over the budget, taxes, and Republican demands of President Barack Obama.

The House voted 316-113 to pass the spending portion of the package on Friday, when it won support from Republicans by a 150-95 margin.

The Senate soon after passed both parts of the agreement on a 65 to 33 vote.

Those were among predictions offered Friday by President Obama during an end-of-year news conference before beginning a family vacation in Hawaii with a stop in San Bernardino, Calif., on the way. The bill also would grant immunity against privacy lawsuits to companies that voluntarily share real-time information on cyber-attacks with the Department of Homeland Security.

“The product we’re delivering this year is terrible”, said Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va.

Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against it, as did Sen. Lindsey Graham of SC – supported the bill.

On Presidential Candidate Senator Marco Rubio: He fell down on this vote by not showing up, He should resign from the Senate! . He did, however, release a statement in opposition to the bill, calling it an example of a “broken Washington”. “That’s because the hard-liners in the GOP will never get all they want in these bills with fewer than 60 votes in the Senate, period”.

Congress now plans to adjourn until January.

Ryan himself told reporters he fielded a congratulatory call from Obama who thanked him for keeping government working and invited him to dinner at the White House in the new year.

“After long and serious study of the bill’s details, I concluded that while I detest lifting the oil export ban, I will not empower Big Oil to upend so many victories for hard-working American families”, Mrs. Pelosi said in a “dear colleagues” letter urging Democrats to support the omnibus.

Democrats, as a minority, leveraged the Republican unhappiness to promise some votes – and the president’s ultimate signature – if the bill included some of their pet provisions.

The spending measure awards increases of about 6 percent on average above tight spending caps that were set by a 2011 budget and debt deal, and were opposed by both GOP defense hawks and Democrats seeking boosts in domestic spending. The legislation would make permanent the research and development tax credit, faster capital-equipment write-offs for small businesses and a rule that lets multinational banks defer US taxes on their foreign income.

Ryan cited the lifting of the oil export ban, the large increase for the Pentagon and curbs on the activities of the Environmental Protection Agency and the IRS as wins for Republicans.

Also in the two bills are provisions trimming some of the taxes that help finance Obama’s 2010 health care overhaul, including a two-year suspension of a tax on medical devices and, in a victory for unions, a two-year postponement of a “Cadillac tax” on higher-cost insurance policies. It was opposed by many healthcare companies, business groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

And a health and compensation fund for 9-11 first responders is funded and extended.