Without a whimper of protest:
The House will vote on an emergency supplemental spending bill Thursday after Republican and Democratic leaders struck a deal with the White House late Wednesday, aides said.
The deal did not include the Senate, but House leaders were to present the deal to Senate leaders later Thursday night, aides said.
The compromise bill will include about $165 billion in funding for the Iraq war with no conditions, such as banning torture or blocking a “status of forces agreement” between the Bush administration and the Iraqi government.
It will include a new program, called the “new GI Bill,” to pay the college tuition of Iraq and Afghan war veterans, which will be transferable to family members. The cost of the program will be added to the federal deficit, because there will be no offsetting tax increase.
It will extend unemployment benefits by three months, but will require recipients to have worked at least 20 weeks, a requirement Democrats had sought to shorten.
It is also to include $2.6 billion to address flood damage in Iowa.
What a deal!!
