Politics
Obama and Republicans struggle to break fiscal deadlock
A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed Republican Party favorability ratings at an all-time low of 24 percent and Democrats with an eight-point lead on voter congressional preference heading into next year’s mid-term elections.
Late on Thursday, Representative Pete Sessions, who chairs the House Rules Committee that is a gatekeeper for all legislation headed for debate in the full chamber, said a deal could be struck as early as Friday.
If he is correct, that could queue up votes in the full House by this weekend. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans were discussing a series of different ideas, including a fast reopening of the government coupled with a debt limit increase and the repeal of an unpopular medical device tax that helps pay for “Obamacare” healthcare subsidies. Under that plan, the revenues would instead be raised through some pension reforms.
