Politico saying that there is a sense that a deal is imminent -
Government shutdown update: Senate leaders nearing a deal - POLITICO.com
This is essentially a re-hash of what they've been discussing and tweaking all day. The only new thing is that there are hints that the Medical Device Tax is being dropped from the deal, in exchange for a delay of the Re-Insurance Tax.
The Medical Device Tax debate, and Democratic opposition to it, has been ongoing since before the ACA was passed (in fact, my recollection is that then Senator Kerry was a big opponent, and I'm pretty sure that his replacement, Elizabeth Warren is as well).
In contrast, the final (?) deal is on the Re-Insurance Tax that I wasn't even aware was super controversial among Democrats. However, unions do seem to hate it, which pretty much answers why it ended up on this deal -
Unions poised to win delay of ObamaCare tax in budget deal - The Hill's Healthwatch
This all seems to be essentially wrapped up, though I think I'll reserve some skepticism until someone signs the dotted line. The main reason for skepticism is that all of the key points discussed are essentially the Democratic position.
Longer debt limit (with no funny business about preventing the Treasury from using emergency measures to extend it further), shorter CR and budget conference that sets up a major battle over the Sequester, and fig leaf addons that are ostensibly for the Republicans (because they modify Obamacare) but which reflect Democratic priorities (in the case of the re-insurance tax) or else are illusion in the case of the income verifications, which are current law that have been delayed because of technical issues, and this "agreement" seems likely to lead to additional funding to fix those issues.
Anyways, we'll see how all this flies when House Republicans see it.
Robert Costa at National Review posted this, so theoretically, yes -
Still this looks like a bitter pill for House Republicans, and they still have leverage if they choose to use it.
(I recommend checking out Robert Costa's twitter feed for more flavor)
Government shutdown update: Senate leaders nearing a deal - POLITICO.com
This is essentially a re-hash of what they've been discussing and tweaking all day. The only new thing is that there are hints that the Medical Device Tax is being dropped from the deal, in exchange for a delay of the Re-Insurance Tax.
The Medical Device Tax debate, and Democratic opposition to it, has been ongoing since before the ACA was passed (in fact, my recollection is that then Senator Kerry was a big opponent, and I'm pretty sure that his replacement, Elizabeth Warren is as well).
In contrast, the final (?) deal is on the Re-Insurance Tax that I wasn't even aware was super controversial among Democrats. However, unions do seem to hate it, which pretty much answers why it ended up on this deal -
Unions poised to win delay of ObamaCare tax in budget deal - The Hill's Healthwatch
This all seems to be essentially wrapped up, though I think I'll reserve some skepticism until someone signs the dotted line. The main reason for skepticism is that all of the key points discussed are essentially the Democratic position.
Longer debt limit (with no funny business about preventing the Treasury from using emergency measures to extend it further), shorter CR and budget conference that sets up a major battle over the Sequester, and fig leaf addons that are ostensibly for the Republicans (because they modify Obamacare) but which reflect Democratic priorities (in the case of the re-insurance tax) or else are illusion in the case of the income verifications, which are current law that have been delayed because of technical issues, and this "agreement" seems likely to lead to additional funding to fix those issues.
Anyways, we'll see how all this flies when House Republicans see it.
Robert Costa at National Review posted this, so theoretically, yes -
Still this looks like a bitter pill for House Republicans, and they still have leverage if they choose to use it.
(I recommend checking out Robert Costa's twitter feed for more flavor)
03.21 am here in Norway.
