Back to basics: Congress tries to keep government lights on

Andrew Taylor - The Associated Press

The good news is that it doesn’t look like a bitterly polarized Washington will stumble into another government shutdown.

But as Democrats controlling the House unveil a stopgap, governmentwide spending bill to keep the lights on and pay the troops, there’s scant evidence that power sharing in the Capitol will produce further legislative accomplishments anytime soon.

The measure, likely to be released Tuesday, Sept. 17, is set for a vote this week and would keep the government running through Nov. 21 and buy time for action and negotiations on $1.4 trillion...