Conservative activists hated the budget deal shepherded through Congress by fledgling House Speaker Paul Ryan, which passed easily (316-113) but with disproportionate Democratic support -- 166 Democrats and 150 Republicans voting in favor, 95 Republicans and 18 Democrats voting against.
Reporter David Herszenhorn habitually spews “far-right” and “hard-right” labels at congressional conservatives, but this big-spending budget earned Ryan some strange new respect with Herszenhorn praising his “deftness in pacifying rebellious conservatives.” A copy editor gave Ryan a pat on the back in a text box: “A successful effort by Republicans to show that they can govern effectively.”
An online subhead underlined the tilt: “After a period of belt-tightening in Washington, the measure provides a notable spending increase and tax breaks worth more than $620 billion.”
After years of dysfunction and abysmal public approval ratings, a chastened, even beaten-down Congress on Friday passed a $1.8 trillion package of spending and tax cuts with remarkably little rancor.
