That Other Non-Obamacare Stuff

Meanwhile, funding the rest of the federal government before the end of the year will proceed as the Dems managed to beat back a Republican filibuster that would have shut the government down...barely.

The Senate cleared a key parliamentary hurdle Saturday on a spending bill that finances almost half the federal government and increases funding for the agencies it covers by an average of 10 percent.

The Senate voted 60 to 34 to close off debate on the must-pass omnibus spending bill. But in order to end a Republican filibuster, Democrats had to hold open the 15-minute vote for an additional 50 minutes so 92-year-old Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) could attend and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) could walk to the chamber from his synagogue in Georgetown.

Byrd has been ailing most of this year and votes only on important matters. Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, honors the Sabbath by refusing to drive and by rarely working on Saturdays unless absolutely necessary.

"Shabbat shalom [peaceful Sabbath]," Lieberman said to photographers as he entered the Capitol, after attending morning services on the second day of Hanukkah and then walking more than three miles to the Capitol on a cold December morning. He cast the 60th vote -- the minimum number needed -- for the $446.8 billion spending bill covering the Justice and State departments, among other agencies.

A final vote is scheduled for Sunday afternoon. The House passed the measure last week, and President Obama has indicated he will sign the bill.

All but three Senate Republicans opposed the measure, citing what they consider to be wasteful spending on domestic agencies at a time of war. Three Democrats -- Sens. Evan Bayh (Ind.), Russell Feingold (Wis.) and Claire McCaskill (Mo.) -- joined Republicans in supporting a filibuster of the bill.

Now, Evan F'ckin Bayh I can see pulling this crap, but Claire McCaskill should know better, and Russ Feingold is doing this from the left. I don't agree with him, but I at least respect the reasoning behind it. The Republicans really could have caused havoc on this, but didn't. In the end, Joe F'ckin Lieberman earned himself another big fat credit chit with the Dems. How lovely. I'd rather have seen McCaskill or Feingold swallow their pride than have Joe F'ckin Lieberman win another round, being the guy that saved the Dems from a government shutdown.

He'll want payback for that. He'll get it at our expense, of course.