Just a quick budget update, the Senate did ultimately pass the Thune amendment, which, in its original form, was aimed at preventing climate change legislation from increasing gas and energy prices. However, Barbara Boxer swooped in unexpectedly and made some changes of her own, which allowed the Thune amendment to pass harmlessly.
Meanwhile, Judd Gregg, suddenly concerned with the national debt, introduced a measure that would have prohibited the congress from voting on anything in any way related to the budget that “shows an increase in the public debt, for the period of the current fiscal year through the next 10 years, equal to or greater than the debt accumulated from 1789 to January 20, 2009.” But it failed 43-54 with Democrats Jon Tester and Ben Nelson voting with the Republicans.
The more interesting proposal, though, was introduced by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE), and would explicitly prevent the Senate from using reconciliation to pass climate change legislation. It hasn’t been voted upon yet, but when that happens, we’ll let you know.
