By DAVID ROGERS
Rural and anti-Wall Street politics came together for a moment Tuesday as the Senate approved an estimated $182 billion spending bill after rejecting conservative demands for still deeper appropriations cuts beyond the August debt limit agreement.
Smelling defeat, Republicans pulled their amendment to slow the pace of financial reforms being implemented by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. And Democrats appeared emboldened, even welcoming the next round of the same Wall Street fight when the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission budgets come before the Senate later this week...Rather than shrink from this issue, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is now planning to include the regulators in his next, nearly $98 billion package, which will also include 2012 appropriations for energy and water programs as well as the State Department and foreign aid.
Indeed, Tuesday’s $182 billion bill is the prototype for what will be Reid’s pattern this fall — bunching diverse bills together to save time while still giving senators some alternative to the giant, governmentwide omnibus packages of the past. Speed is of the essence, but the shotgun process still risks a fight with the right in the House, and Reid clearly can’t count on consistent support from his partner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell....had encouraged Reid to proceed with the packages but then deserted him to side with tea party forces on a pivotal vote attempting to derail the entire measure Tuesday.
Seven Republicans — including Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, also a member of the party leadership — stood firm, giving Democrats a 60-39 victory. But McConnell’s performance surprised many because the tea party motion went against the August budget accords McConnell helped write and threatened to pit food stamp benefits against discretionary spending for agriculture and rural areas.
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