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OVERNIGHT MONEY: Senate up next for continuing resolution
FRIDAY'S BIG STORY:
Clearing the decks: Well, the House successfully passed a bill that will keep the government running for the next six months, tossing the issue to the Senate, which remained stuck on a veterans jobs bill.
Republican vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan (Wis.) made his return to Capitol Hill on Thursday — he voted in favor of the stopgap measure — as the House likely took its final vote on a major piece of legislation before the election.
The bill comes well ahead of the Oct. 1 start of the 2013 fiscal year and, essentially, holds the federal government to 2012 spending levels.
A deal on the bill was crafted before lawmakers left for the five-week August recess, making it an easy item to check off the agenda before departing Washington again until after the election.
The bill will adhere to the top-line spending level of $1.047 trillion that was set in the August 2011 debt-ceiling deal.
The Senate, most likely, will take it up next week, after working through the veterans jobs bill.
Once the Senate passes the measure, President Obama is expected to sign it.
Right now, the House and Senate are scheduled to be in session for a few days next week.
Meanwhile, the Senate had a couple of procedural votes slated for Thursday night on a $1 billion veterans jobs bill that advocates say will provide a boost for the 1 million servicemen and -women looking for jobs.
Murray made another plea on the Senate floor this evening, reiterating that the bill includes ideas from Republicans and Democrats, is fully paid for and doesn't violate budget rules.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has said he would filibuster the legislation until his bill to end aid to Pakistan gets a vote.
BREAKING NEWS
A little more action: The Federal Reserve embarked on a broad new effort Thursday to spur the economy just weeks before the presidential election, announcing an open-ended bond-buying program aimed at boosting the labor market until it improves "substantially."
Eyeing an economic recovery that is treading water, and an unemployment rate that refuses to go down, the nation's central bank said it was committed to buying $40 billion in mortgage debt every month. The Fed said the purchases would continue until the agency sees sufficient improvement in the nation's labor market.
Meanwhile, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's campaign pounced on the news of the Federal Reserve's next round of stimulus on Thursday, saying its candidate would enact policies leading to more robust economic recovery.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Michigan Sentiment: Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan will release its estimate of consumer sentiment for September. Consumer confidence has been slipping as the economy has slowed.
Retail Sales: The Commerce Department will release its August report that measures the total receipts of retail stores. The changes in retail sales are widely followed as the most timely indicator of broad consumer spending patterns, which represent 70 percent of economic activity.
Consumer Price Index (CPI): The Labor Department releases its August report that measures the price level of a fixed market basket of goods and services purchased by consumers. CPI is the most widely cited inflation indicator and is used to calculate cost-of-living adjustments for government programs.
Industrial Production-Capacity Utilization: The Federal Reserve will release its August report showing the physical output of the nation's factories, mines and utilities. The monthly report also provides a measure of capacity utilization.
Business Inventories: The Commerce Department will release its July report on sales and inventory statistics from all three stages of the manufacturing process: manufacturing, wholesale and retail.
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
— House panels advance bill blocking Obama's welfare waivers
— Kanye West raps 'Mitt Romney don't pay no tax' on new album
— Farm bill discharge petition filed
— Schumer ‘welcomes back’ Ryan with blistering attack
— Treasury imposes sanctions on Hezbollah's leadership
— Initial jobless claims take big leap
— House approves latest GOP plan to avoid defense sequester
— Stabenow to Boehner: Spend one day on rural America
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