The U.S. Senate tried to end the EPA's action on Cap 'N Trade

Congress is back from their week long Memorial Day break trying to spend more money without paying the bills. The Senate debated the $115B tax extenders bill most of the week. About 1/2 of the tab associated with the bill is paid for and efforts to pay the entire tab are being offered by the GOP in the Senate. On Thursday, the Senate paused the consideration of the tax extenders bill to debate a resolution offered by Sen. Murkowski (R-AK). The resolution would put a stop to the EPA RULE issued in December of last year that basically is the groundwork for the agency to implement a Cap 'N Trade initiative. She needed 51 Senators to join in the effort. The final vote was 47 to 53. The Senate GOP are at 41 in numbers so Sen. Murkowski was able to get 6 Democratic Senators to help in her cause. But she needed 10 Democrats to join her to get it passed. This means that the EPA will continue to write regulations re: greenhouse gases and recording their levels and ultimately taxing them. The 6 Democratic Senators that joined her effort were:
Lincoln (D-AR), Landrieu (D-LA), Bayh (D-IN), Nelson (D-NE), Pryor (D-AR) and Rockefeller (D-WVA)
The House of Representatives is working to get the votes to pass the Senate passed War supplemental approps. bill aimed at funding the war efforts in Iraq & Afghanistan. The original request by the POTUS had a price tag of $33B. By the time the Senate passed the bill, it reached a total cost of $60B. The House is hoping to pass it next week, with a total price of $80B. Because the original "shell" bill was to fund Wars, the POTUS was able to deem the bill an emergency and thus it doesn't have to be paid for or offset by spending cuts. Therefore, the total bill, whatever the final number, will be added directly to our debt.
Keep your GRADES and letters coming on GradeGov.com. Because Congress is hearing you, they are at least struggling to get the votes to pass these big bills adding to our debate. Let your voice be heard on GradeGov.com.