Why is agreement such a hard word to use?

“Congress on course to avert a government shutdown

By Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane

Washington Post Staff Writers 
Saturday, February 26, 2011; 12:00 AM

The threat of a government shutdown receded Friday, as Senate Democrats tentatively embraced a Republican plan to immediately cut $4 billion in federal spending by targeting programs that President Obama has already marked for elimination.

The GOP proposal, unveiled late Friday by House leaders, would keep the government running only until March 18 - two weeks past the current March 4 deadline - a shorter extension than Democrats are seeking. But by offering a stopgap measure that cuts only programs Obama has identified as unnecessary, Republicans appear to have broken an impasse over spending that has been brewing since they took control of the House this year.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who engineered the legislation in concert with House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), said there is now a "clear path" to averting a government shutdown on Friday. "By supporting the House bill, our friends on the other side of the aisle will have the chance to ensure that the government remains operational while we work with them to identify additional ways to shrink Washington spending this year," McConnell said.

While Senate Democrats said they would continue to press for a longer extension, they acknowledged that there was no longer a disagreement over the cuts.

"We are encouraged to hear that Republicans are abandoning their demands for extreme measures like cuts to border security, cancer research and food safety inspectors and instead moving closer to Democrats' position that we should cut government spending in a smart, responsible way that targets waste and excess while keeping our economy growing," Jon Summers, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), said in a statement.

Lawmakers remain sharply divided over how to fund the government through Sept. 30, with Republicans demanding unprecedented reductions in domestic spending to trim a budget deficit projected to hit a record $1.6 trillion this year. Last week, in response to public anxiety over deficit spending, the House approved a plan to cut a total of $61 billion from virtually every federal agency over the next seven months.”