Senate, HR Differences Complicate Spending Bill (may not reach agreement)

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: Senate, House Differences Complicate Spending Bill
In seeking compromise, the GOP could find itself caught between conservative and moderate factions within its own party.

By Richard Simon and Joel Havemann, Times Staff Writers


WASHINGTON — For House Republican leaders, passage of wide-ranging spending cuts by a razor-thin margin early Friday morning may be the easy part. Now they have to reach a compromise with the Senate, which has passed a bill that differs in many ways.

A basic difference is the price tag — the House bill would cut federal spending by $50 billion over the next five years; the Senate's measure calls for reductions totaling $35 billion.

In seeking a compromise, the GOP could find itself caught between two party factions: conservatives who complain that spending has grown out of control, and a smaller group of moderates who champion the social programs targeted for cuts.

Also complicating the coming talks are differences in the chambers unrelated to spending. The Senate bill, for example, would authorize energy exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; the House version would not.

As a result of these factors, it is far from certain that the House and Senate will be able to reach an agreement on the first effort since 1997 to slow the growth of federal benefit programs....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cuts19nov19,1,6664369,full.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true

[stray cat]

1. As long as billionaires get their tax breaks and children starve

and repubs hypocritically call themselves pro-life. They stop caring once a child takes his/hers first breath.