(CNN) -- President Obama's economic stimulus plan cleared its first hurdle, but it was hardly the bipartisan victory he hoped for -- not a single House Republican broke ranks to support it. The stimulus bill now moves to the Senate, where GOP members want less spending and more tax cuts. In fact, 11 Democrats also voted against the $819 billion package. But a win is a win, and so the White House strategy is to take the long view: Maybe the Senate will take out more of the controversial pork projects and tweak the tax cuts to win over more Republicans.

A growing number of
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GOP and Democrats say measures such as those don't create jobs.


We're only two days into this government shutdown, but it already seems like we've been here before. And in a way, we have. The Republicans and Democrats got in each other's faces over the U.S. debt ceiling in 2011. The GOP demanded significant budget cuts before agreeing to give Uncle Sam more borrowing power. That amounted to $2 trillion in cuts over 10 years. But Congress never could agree on where to make the cuts, so they were implemented across-the-board. The package averted a shutdown then, but didn't soothe the hard feelings created by the standoff. Plus, add this to the mix:  The tea party can't stand Obamacare. They don't like it, never will.

The GOP is almost two parties these days -- call them standard Republicans and tea party
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Republicans.


On the surface, it resembles just about any other high school in Japan -- or any high school in most places around the world. Students sit quietly studying math, science and English; some struggle to stay focused, looking at the clock and waiting for the bell to ring. When the school day ends, some move out to the sports fields for rugby or soccer practice, while others study music in emptying hallways. What makes this school different is the pictures of two men scattered throughout the building -- portraits of North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung and previous leader Kim Jong Il.

Pyongyang says it considers the matter resolved, but
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Japan has long demanded more answers.