On his 99th day in office, President Obama received the very welcome news that Senator Specter was switching to the Democratic Party, virtually assuring the Democrats a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate—something Republicans were very quick to condemn (both the defection and the filibuster-proof majority) since they, of course, would never dream of hoping for and wishing a Republican filibuster-proof majority on the American people.
Today, on his 100th day in office, President Obama got another very welcome present: Congress easily approved a $3.4 trillion spending plan, “setting the stage for President Obama to pursue the first major overhaul of the nation’s health care system in a generation, along with other far-reaching domestic initiatives,” according to the Washington Post.
And,
Lawmakers also agreed to use a powerful procedural tool known as reconciliation to advance the president’s proposal to expand health coverage for the uninsured, handing the new administration a huge victory on its 100th day in office. Unlike 1993, when then-president Bill Clinton unveiled a universal coverage plan that went nowhere on Capitol Hill, Obama now has a strong mandate for change from both chambers of Congress and a mid-October deadline for key congressional committees to send legislation to the full House and Senate.
The budget resolution was passed in the House 233 to 193 without a single Republican vote and in the Senate 53 to 43.
For more details, read “Senate Joins House in Approving Obama’s Budget Outline” in the Post
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.