Early Evening

++ The Senate passed the $1.1 trillion budget by 72-26. Ted Cruz followed form by trying to amend the omnibus bill to defund Obamacare. The House previously passed it by a large majority--only 3 Democrats opposed and 60 some of the tea party objected. In a theoretical reality, this should mean no government shutdown until October 1, when the dance begins again right before the election. Now the bill goes to President Obama for his signature.

++President Obama the other day told people he might raise the minimum wage unilaterally. I thought "say what? While he can't raise the federal minimum wage by himself, he can issue an executive order to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers. This would affect some 1 million employers of the government. John Boehner has warned the President about this, saying Obama sworn an oath-presumably about upholding the constitution. But observers point to JFK and LBJ doing this for federal workers without repercussions. Polling for this is naturally favorable but so is the polling on a number of these issues.

++Still no action on the extended unemployment, which Republicans in the Senate claimed they would just gamble and pay the price rather than spend more money. Except that the Democrats are not acting like they want to make Republicans pay the price.

++The New Jersey Assembly issued 20 subpoenas this afternoon, one of which was to Chris Christie's campaign, over Bridgegate. The attitude is that they will work their way upwards and not go fishing all at once. While the Christie scandal may burn out in the media, it is now a legal process, which includes federal investigations. It will hamper Christie, despite the GOP establishment putting on a good front of solidarity.