They came close, but Congress did agree to an eleventh hour short-term funding bill late last Friday night (4/08/11) that will set the stage for a final piece of legislation by the middle of this week.  This last budget cut to the current 2011 fiscal year spending plans shaves $38 billion from a $3.8 trillion full year budget, i.e., a 1% reduction.  Republicans may have wanted more (budget cuts) and Democrats may have wanted less, but the compromise allowed Congress to avoid what would have been the 18^th government shutdown in our nation's history (source: Congress). 

The bickering over $38 billion of spending cuts may quickly become insignificant on the spreadsheets of Washington policy wonks.  When President Obama released his fiscal year 2012 spending plan in mid-February, it included a long-range forecast of $46 trillion of government outlays over the next decade.  Just last Tuesday (4/05/11), Paul Ryan, the House Budget committee chairman, released a plan showing $40 trillion of spending over the same period.  The $6 trillion in cutbacks would change the structure of dozens of government programs, most notably Medicare and Medicaid (source: Congress). 

Portugal has become the 3^rd European nation in the last 14 months to seek a financial bailout.  Following the collapse of Greece (a $146 billion bailout in February 2010) and then Ireland (a $113 billion bailout in November 2010), Portugal acknowledged last Wednesday (4/06/11) that it had run out of money and will require a $115 billion bailout.  Massive budget deficits coupled with the inability to borrow money at manageable interest rates doomed Portugal to seek assistance (source: Financial Times).