The bipartisan budget compromise that passed the House by a wide margin last week has inspired House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) to blast outside conservative groups he said were using Republican members of Congress for their own gain. It has inspired kind words between the pair of legislators — Senate Budget Committee chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) — who hammered out the deal. And it has inspired hope that, after years of governing by crisis, Congress may begin returning to something resembling regular order. But those hopes mask a deeply divided Senate, in which ill will over recent rules changes has heightened a bitter partisan divide. As the Senate prepares to take up the bipartisan deal later this week, both sides say it is likely to be one of the final pieces of significant legislation to pass the 113th Congress as midterm elections loom. Read more http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...944478-65a3-11e3-a0b9-249bbb34602c_story.html
