By Andrew Taylor
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friday, December 11, 2009
WASHINGTON — Democrats are muscling through a deficit-swelling spending bill, giving domestic programs their third major boost this year and giving lawmakers more than 5,000 home-state spending projects.
The House voted 221-202 on Thursday to pass the 1,088-page, $1.1 trillion measure — combining $447 billion in operating budgets with about $650 billion in payments for federal benefit programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. The Senate immediately voted to begin debate, with a final vote likely this weekend.
No House Republicans voted for the bill. Among Democrats, 28 opposed it.
Central Texas' lone Democratic delegate, Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Austin, voted in favor of the bill.
The measure provides spending increases averaging about 10 percent to programs under immediate control of Congress. It comes on top of an infusion of cash to domestic agencies in February's economic stimulus bill and a $410 billion measure in March that also bestowed budget increases well above inflation.
Also Thursday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., confirmed that the House will vote to raise the cap on government borrowing, currently set at $12.1 trillion. The increase in the debt ceiling is likely to exceed $1.5 trillion so that another politically difficult vote to raise the limit won't be needed next year.
The deficit for the 2009 budget year registered $1.4 trillion, and a comparable deficit is expected for 2010 — and that's before Congress spends up to $100 billion to renew extended jobless payments and health insurance subsidies for the unemployed and passes legislation intended to create jobs.
