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In reply to the discussion: It's really hard to take criticism of Obama here seriously [View all]NewDeal_Dem
(1,049 posts)Thanks in part to a rare alliance between President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner, the House voted Thursday to pass a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government, clearing a hurdle to avoid an otherwise imminent government shutdown.
At the eleventh hour, Obama and Boehner scrambled to salvage the bill which passed by a vote of 219 to 206 amid a Republican revolt over immigration and a Democratic revolt over provisions that would deregulate Wall Street and increase the amount that individual donors can contribute to national political party committees.
With its fate in doubt, President Obama took to the phones to personally lobby Democratic members to vote for the legislation, a development White House spokesman Josh Earnest confirmed to msnbcs Alex Wagner. Obama also spoke to Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who emerged this week as the deals most prominent antagonist, ahead of a Thursday evening meeting between House Democrats to determine their next move. They were joined by White House chief of staff Dennis McDonough, who argued that the package was the best they could do and funded a number of critical priorities.
But in a dramatic turn, Boehner only barely managed to pass a procedural motion to advance the bill after Democrats unanimously voted no along with 16 Republicans. Republican leaders scrambled to convince enough conservative dissenters to change their votes to yes at the last second and it passed with a razor-thin 214-212 vote margin.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/house-set-vote-spending-bill