United States Government Now Open

One day after the State of Tennessee stepped up and temporarily reopened the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the United States Senate and House have reached an agreement that will open the government and stall reaching the debt ceiling until early 2014.  With a Senate vote of 81 to 18 and a House vote of 285 to 144, the agreement to fund the government until January 15, 2014 and lift the debt ceiling until February 7, 2014 was approved. President Obama signed the Bill shortly after midnight, allowing furloughed government employees to return to work on Thursday. In addition to paying workers for the time they were furloughed, the most recent Bill reimburses States for the costs they incurred executing Federal Programs during the 15 day shutdown. A bi-partisan group was named to negotiate and construct a long term budget solution that is expected to be ready for presentation during the last weeks of 2013 to head off any further government shutdowns.