Senate Budget Negotiations Collapse
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on May 18th, 2011 4:38 am by HL
Senate Budget Negotiations Collapse
The Hill reports that Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has pulled out of the “Gang of Six” senators working on a budget deal for fiscal year 2012. The breakdown was attributed to an impasse over reform of entitlements.
Said Coburn: “We can’t bridge the gulf of where we need to go on mandatory spending… There’s no reason to sit and talk about the same things over and over and not get any movement.”
First Read: “A Democratic source familiar with the talks says that Coburn brought new issues to the table at the last minute that prevented the group from coming to a deal and gave the members the indication he was not negotiating in good faith.”
Republican Advances to CA-36 Runoff
In a seemingly major upset, Craig Huey (R) appears to have captured one of the spots in a July 12 runoff in the race to replace former Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), the Los Angeles Times reports. He will face Janice Hahn (D).
“Huey, a conservative businessman who pumped $500,000 of his own money into the race, faces long odds in the runoff, given the district’s strong Democratic tilt.”