Without an agreement on spending, the Federal Government would shut down on Thursday.  It appears that this will be avoided for now with an agreement on a temporary spending plan that cuts $4 Billion in spending while keeping most government agencies up and running while Congress continues to negotiate the final budget.  The House will vote on the agreement today and is expected to pass it, while the Senate will take it up in the next two days and Majority Leader Harry Reid expects to pass it there as well.

This stopgap bill will last for two weeks while both sides continue to hammer out a final deal.  The budget passed by House Republicans contains $61 Billion in spending cuts, which Democrats say go to far and will hurt the economic recovery.  They are bolstered by recent independent reports that say the Republican plan could cost 700,000 jobs over the next year and slow domestic growth by up to 2 points in the second half of this year.