Error may snag $39 bln US spending-cut bill

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A typographical error in a $39 billion domestic spending-cut bill signed into law by President Bush on Wednesday could mean another vote on the measure that passed only after Vice President Dick Cheney intervened with a tie-breaking vote.
The law, which sparked fury among Democrats and strong opposition from some Republicans in an election year, cuts funds for health care, student loan and other programs.

It passed the Senate only after Cheney cast his tie-breaking vote. The House passed it by a 216-214 margin.

A Senate aide said that a clerical error written into the bill as it bounced between the House and Senate resulted in the two chambers passing slightly different versions.

Legislation becomes law only when the president signs a measure that has been passed in identical form by the House and Senate. Aides in both the House and Senate said it was not yet clear how lawmakers would fix the problem.

http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=11146895&src=rss/ElectionCoverage

[Selatius]

1. Good, maybe we can kill the damn bill on the second try

I'm a college student, and I've had to pay my way through student loans. I'm going to spend many years trying to pay off the principal plus interest on top of that. In other countries, they pay tuition for students, so the poorest don't get left behind with debt.

[Angry Girl]

4. Other Western countries also provide health care and child care - nt

[Benhurst]

5. Yes, but can they strut around, heads held high,

as THE WORLD'S ONLY SUPERPOWER?

[Angry Girl]

6. LOL

Thanks! I needed that tonight!
G'night all! :hi:
:beer:

[mom cat]

2. Lets flood them wit e-mails and faxes and tell them we will never forget!

[54anickel]

3. "Poor woman in the basement"...wtf is that about? She didn't happen

to be on oxygen, did she? I would love to see this have to go back for a new vote, but I doubt that will happen. Nice try though. Kudos to the "poor woman in the basement", whether purposely done or by some "devine intervention" - it does put this horrible bill back in the spotlight. Good thing since the MSM barely touched on it the first time around.

[Lenore]

7. Sweet!

A mulligan!! :toast:

[magellan]

8. Might be a ruse

What you wanna bet the Repubs caught hell from their constituents for the cuts they approved and this is their way of forcing a revote that somehow fails to pass the bill without restoring some of those cuts?

Bet you. Betchoo betchoo.

[Rainscents]

9. Maybe they know this is what will happen to them?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2093210

It's starting... people are waking up!

[magellan]

10. I hadn't seen that!

Great news!

As others keep saying, in the end it all comes down to money. Sad but true. Voters start rethinking things only when their own purse is squeezed. In the case of Repub voters, it's disgusting to see how they rail against handouts but expect sympathy when it's THEM depending on the handouts.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how this budget rewrite plays out. Dollars to donuts they restore the Medicaid cut....

[Telly Savalas]

25. Who cares if it's a ruse?

If the bill gets passed anyway, then it's a pointless ruse.

If the bill doesn't get passed, then the Democrats win: there are no spending cuts and every Republican who voted for it the first time is still stuck with that ugly vote on their resume.

[OKNancy]

11. kick

[Up2Late]

12. The Hill: Small typo, big headache (could force re-vote on $39 bln cuts)

(So far, only "The Hill" and The Washington Times/UPI are reporting this screw up, wonder why?) :eyes:

Small typo, big headache

By Jeffrey Young and Patrick O’Connor

A typo in the budget-reconciliation bill may give congressional Democrats another shot at making political hay out of the $39 billion deficit-reduction measure President Bush signed yesterday.

Democratic leaders could block an attempt by Republicans to correct the clerical error and use the fight to highlight their fierce opposition to the legislation, which includes spending reductions in healthcare, education and other programs.

By doing so, Democrats would raise from the dead a yearlong fight against the budget cuts at the same time that they prepare to beat back another package of spending reductions called for in the president’s new budget.

Blocking a technical correction to legislation that has already been signed into law would be unusual, but budget battles on Capitol Hill are always partisan and House Democrats believe they have scored political points on fighting the GOP budget cuts.

(more at link below)

<http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/020906/news1.html>

[EFerrari]

13. Thank you, Typo Fairy!

The icing on the Thuggery's day.

[SpiralHawk]

14. Go for it - run their noses in it

It will do the Repubs a world of good. They need to take a good long look at what they are doing to ruin the USA financially, and so do the rest of us.

[elaineb]

15. Typo nuthin'!

God's finger writes in mysterious ways...

[Straight Shooter]

16. Can't be too generous, can we, Repubs?

At issue is a widely supported provision that was intended to allow Medicare beneficiaries to purchase oxygen devices used in the home rather than pay endless rental fees. Because of a clerical error made during the enrollment of the bill, the new policy would apply to practically all medical equipment, congressional aides explained.

Some form of technical correction is needed, and the GOP leadership is hoping to move it swiftly in both chambers under unanimous-consent agreements, or UCs, said Amy Call, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).

Yes, of course, let's just pay rent forever rather than being able to own equipment. Heaven knows rental fees never go up. :sarcasm:

[Up2Late]

17. Didn't you hear, this and the AMT is how the GOP plans to "cut the...

...deficit in half by 2009..."

Seriously, the 2007 proposed * budget does say it's counting on the lack of action to fix the AMT and drilling in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge to help cut the deficit. :mad:

[Rageneau]

18. Please, Democrats -- please, please, please fight for us.

This is a perfect (God-given) opportunity for our Democratic legislators to stand up and defend the lame, halt, blind, uneducated and poor -- all of whom the new GOP budget ignores or exploits.

THIS is the good fight!!!

THIS is God's work!

THIS is the fight worth fighting!

NOW!

[Born Free]

21. but if they speak out some republican might say bad things ...

and the right wing media will agree with them, no it's better to stay hidden under their desk, maybe next time they will be strong enogh to fight for the American way of life....damn I wish these elected democrats would prove me wrong and grow some backbone.

[frylock]

19. must. keep. powder. dry...

[Wordie]

20. This is amazingly good news. And I like the "intervention by God" argument

upthread. It's another chance to do the right thing, and if the Dems were to explain it to the nation in those terms, I sure wouldn't complain!

Recommended.

[DemonGoddess]

22. good news!

[jazzjunkysue]

23. Correction:"Male Prostitutes shall NOT be allowed to work in West Wing

on school nights.

[Up2Late]

24. kick n/t

:kick:

[orleans]

26. we'll see. if we go back and revote and it doesn't get passed

then chances are there wasn't a typo--chances are it would be that they all realized how screwed they'll be by actually passing it.