Dear Member
In their continued effort to make me look bad, Congress has agreed to extend the government funding through December 21st. Congressional leaders and White House officials agreed yesterday to extend a government funding deadline by two weeks setting up the possibility of a shutdown showdown just ahead of Christmas. That ought to be pretty popular with the 660,000 federal employees this affects.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the decision, was made because of the observances surrounding the death of former president George H.W. Bush. It's ironic that this battle is getting sidelined to memorialize Bush who, as president, worked with Democrats in Congress to balance the budget through tax increases and spending cuts and who said during his inaugural address, "The American public did not send us here to bicker."
Note that this is just an agreement and has not been signed yet but it probably will be by the time I send this out so rest easy... for two more weeks.
In Solidarity,
Richard Kennington
Northwest Mountiain Legislative Chair