Speaker Boehner and Leader Reid announced a deal at 11:00 p.m.. last evening, averting a government shutdown. The deal, according to the Post, will cut over $37 billion from this years budget, will not give the Republicans the defunding of Planned Parenthood that they sought, but will include riders prohibiting federal funding for abortion in the District of Columbia, as well as a rider providing for educational vouchers in D.C. It appears that the Democrats traded some additional budget cuts for the Republicans relenting on the Planned Parenthood funding.
And so the deal is made, and there already is some rumbling on the Republican side. Karl Rove had warned on his blog that a shutdown could help President Obama, and I think his analysis was correct. All along it appeared that John Boehner realized that a shutdown would help the Democrats, but convincing his caucus of that must have been like a long, painful visit to a dentist office.
On now to the main event, which is the FY12 budget, and the raising of the debt ceiling. If you thought the rhetoric was harsh here just wait a few days. It is really going to heat up.
