House votes to defund health care, Planned Parenthood
Image via WikipediaThe House on Friday approved measures that would block federal funding of Planned Parenthood and cut off funds for implementation of the national health-care law, even as it rejected a proposal by conservative Republicans that would have enacted a sweeping $22 billion cut across federal agencies.These are obviously going to be points of contention in any negotiations with the Senate on what the final bill looks like. They will also be of interest to the President in his decision whether to shut down the government to try to get his way with the House. Polling now indicates that the people are on the side of the House. Whether they will still be after the process is completed will be a telling point in how the 2012 election shapes up.
The votes on the hot-button measures, which were among nearly 130 amendments to a federal spending bill, came as leaders delayed a scheduled recess to complete their work on the measure after their third straight night of post-midnight debate.
With dozens upon dozens of amendments still to be considered, House Majority Leader Eric I. Cantor (R-Va.) pleaded with his colleagues during the mid-afternoon session of votes to speed up their debate, but Republican aides conceded privately that the final vote on the government funding bill would not come until well past midnight or even after dawn Saturday.
The federal government is operating under a temporary funding resolution that expires March 4. Congress must approve an extension by that date to prevent a shutdown of federal operations, but so far, Republicans and Democrats have been unable to bridge major differences over the levels of continued funding, with conservatives in the House pressing for massive reductions to demonstrate a new era of fiscal austerity.
The passage of the Planned Parenthood defunding measure, sponsored by Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), came after the House debated the amendment for almost three hours Thursday night.
The House's approval of the amendments aiming to defund the national health-care law, sponsored by Republican Reps. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), Steve King (Iowa) and Jo Ann Emerson (Mo.), followed similarly heated debate on the House floor Friday.
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The good news right now is that the House is finally serious about cutting the excessive spending. There are probably some Democrat Senators also serious about that. At this point it looks like the President is not serious about cutting material amounts of spending.
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