As today’s show was in progress, the news came trickling out that Speaker John Boehner would finally relent and allow the Reid-McConnell bill to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling to come to the floor for a vote, even if it means violating the asinine “Hastert Rule“.

But as the show ended at noon there were still some soap opera cliffhanger worthy questions hanging in the balance:

  • Would Ted Cruz hold up the vote?
  • Would the House vote before the Senate?

We now know the answer to the first… No.  After Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell gave their remarks announcing the deal, Ted Cruz protested “Had Senate Republicans united… the outcome of this would have been very different.”  But he said he would not delay the vote, admitting “there is nothing to be gained from delaying this vote”.  (How mighty big of him…)

While senator after senator is patting themselves on the back for this deal (before a single vote has been cast, I should add), we’re getting a good look at what they’ve apparently agreed upon from Talking Points Memo‘s Sahil Kapur:

The government will be funded through Jan. 15 at current spending levels of $986.3 billion, established by the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration.

The debt limit will be raised through Feb. 7, with Treasury permitted to use extraordinary measures to borrow after that date, if necessary. The plan includes a “motion of disapproval” wherein Congress can vote to disapprove of this particular increase within 15 days of the president’s announcement. If the motion gets a majority in both chambers, he can veto it.

A bipartisan House-Senate conference committee will be initiated and tasked with submitting formal budget recommendations by Dec. 13, should it reach an agreement.

Individuals seeking subsidies to buy insurance under Obamacare will be required to prove that their income level makes them eligible for such financial assistance under the law.

Stay tuned…

This morning, I had the honor of speaking with two amazing and smart women about the dysfunction in our world today…

Lisa Graves is the Executive Director of the Center for Media & Democracy, publisher of PRWatch.orgALECexposed.orgSourceWatch.org, and their latest exposé about the Fix the Debt gang, PetersonPyramid.org.  Reading those sites regularly will make you much smarter too, and help you win any dinner table debate with right wing relatives.

And Susie Madrak of Crooks and Liars joined in for our regular Wednesday morning get-together, where she also told us about Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher asking Jay Carney at a WH Press Briefing if President Obama would delay Obamacare by a year if the GOP agreed to delay heart attacks by a year(!),  and the disconnect among those low information Republican voters as detailed in SD Ranchers Want To Know: Where’s The Government They Voted Against?.