Considering it is such a volatile election year, Congress had every incentive to cut a major budget deal and avoid a government shutdown that has caused so much angst and economic paralysis in the past.

But it never should have taken this long. And it is a testament to how rotten relations are between Democratic and Republican leaders that they would come close to another shutdown and bicker over such basic issues, including whether they were going to do anything to protect public health. Republicans and Democrats are looking for every edge they can find in the November elections, so finding compromises on the level of funding and what would and would not be in these big pieces of legislation proved to be daunting.

There is good news, though. Federal lawmakers passed a stopgap measure that keeps the government funded through Dec. 9, which gratefully gets the county past the November elections, when cooler political heads likely will prevail.

Significantly, the legislation tackles the long-ignored problem of addressing the Zika crisis; Congress has agreed to plow $1.1 billion in prevention, research, education and other efforts to fight the disease. A mosquito-
borne virus, Zika has spread throughout parts of South and Central America. But there also are hundreds of cases reported in New York, including the Hudson Valley, all travel-related, meaning those affected either had recently traveled to an affected area or had sexual contact with someone who did. Experts say the disease is likely to spread, but at the least the federal government now has approved the resources to tackle the problem aggressively.

Fortunately, the agreement also includes a side deal that will provide long-sought aid for residents of Flint, Mich., who, partially through government incompetence have been victimized by polluted water.

Nevertheless, there is no shortage of important matters indefensibly being ignored by Congress, ranging from improving the health care system and reforming the tax code, to addressing comprehensive immigration reform and curbing gun violence.

These days, just keeping the federal government fully open and operating is a major achievement, but it is still no cause for a celebration.

– The Poughkeepsie Journal

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