The House passed a bipartisan budget deal Wednesday that would cut funding for Medicare and avoid a looming spike in premiums for about 30% of Medicare Part B beneficiaries. It also changes the way partnerships such as hedge funds and private equity firms are audited in order to increase tax compliance, raising $11 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
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Ryan’s ascension was coming as Congress neared completion of a bipartisan accord to avert a jarring federal default next week and likely prevent a December government shutdown by setting spending levels for the next two years. The deal would extend the government’s borrowing authority through March 2017, when a new Congress and new president are in place, Xinhua news agency reported.
The plan retains spending cuts known as sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011 and limits future payment rates for hospitals that set up or buy off-campus facilities.
The bill calls for approximately $112 billion in additional spending over two years. One conservative leader, Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas, predicted the compromise would get 70 to 90 GOP votes, which seemed sufficient for passage when combined with what is expected to be solid support from Democrats.
Most Republicans voted against the bill, which critics derided as an 11th-hour agreement that handed President Obama and congressional Democrats a big spending victory.
Conservatives who voted against him in the Republican meeting said they would support him when the full House votes on Thursday.
Ryan’s promise echoed demands of the outsider-oriented conservatives who made Boehner’s life miserable because they felt he left rank-and-file lawmakers powerless.
“We’re going to have his back for the next few months and make sure that we give him the opportunity to show that he can be the leader that we hope he can be”, Labrador said.
John Boehner’s Zip-a-dee-doo-dah exit as Speaker of the House of Representatives has triggered a remarkable and chaotic process among House Republicans. “It’s time for us to turn the page on the last few years and get to work on a bold agenda that we can take to the American people”.
He easily dispatched his sole opponent, Florida Rep. Daniel Webster, the choice of a group of hard-core conservatives, winning 200 votes to Webster’s 43.
Sen. Rand Paul said this week he will filibuster the bill.
Boehner wiped his face with a tissue, then hugged House staffers.
“This budget agreement is far from ideal, but providing for our men and women in uniform and for the full faith and credit of the United States is not an option, it is a responsibility”, Womack said in a statement after the vote.
“What has been produced will go a long way toward relieving the uncertainty hanging over us”, he said.
A reluctant candidate for speaker, Ryan was drafted by party leaders only after Boehner’s heir apparent, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, took himself out of the running. Ryan had preferred to stay as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, his dream job, and was also concerned about the impact on his wife and three school-age children in Janesville, Wisconsin.
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Many Democrats like Ryan but none is hesitating to attack him as a symbol of Republican policies they consider harsh.
