Update: Hopes Fade for Budget Bill

Hopes for clearing a budget savings package this week dimmed further today as discussions over the sale of drilling leases in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge remained at an impasse. GOP leaders continued to lower expectations for the bill's passage and shifted attention to other measures they hope to complete before the holiday recess. House leaders told rank-and-file members at a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning that it appears the House would not pass a final budget package that opens ANWR for oil drilling, while the Senate cannot pass a package that does not do so, GOP lawmakers said. The House version of the bill (HR 4241) does not include an ANWR provision; the Senate version (S 1932) does. House Majority Leader Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said he still wants to pass budget and tax cut reconciliation packages (S 2020, HR 4297) this week, suggesting that ANWR could be included in another bill instead. "There are any number of ways we could do it," he said.
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Right now ALL we can do is fax/call/meet the authorities. Let's just keep doing that and keep listening to C-Span. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.