The Federal Budget, Explained; The Future Of The BQE; Councilmember Inna Vernikov; Your Holiday Alone Time

On today's show:

• Yesterday, Congress passed a stopgap bill to fund the government for an extra week to avoid a shutdown, and to give them more time to agree on a full-year budget for 2023. Emily Cochrane, reporter in the Washington bureau of The New York Times, covering Congress, brings us her latest reporting about Congress's spending bills, and Eric Toder, Institute Fellow and Codirector at the Tax Policy Center explains the federal budget process, and the latest deal passed by Congress, which averts a shutdown for a week to give lawmakers more time to agree on a full-year budget.
• Tiffany-Ann Taylor, Vice President for Transportation at the Regional Plan Association (RPA), Mayor Eric Adams has unveiled preliminary plans to fix the long-decrepit BQE. TAT assesses the new proposals and explains some of the expressway's most pressing issues.
• Inna Vernikov, City Council member (D-48, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Homecrest, Trump Village, Luna Park, Brightwater Towers, Midwood), The majority of the New York City Council members are new and are part of a class that is the most diverse and progressive in city history. This year Brian Lehrer will get to know all 51 members. Today, Councilmember Inna Vernikov talks about her priorities for district 48, which includes parts of Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Homecrest, Trump Village, Luna Park, Brightwater Towers, Midwood.
• Portrayals of the holiday season so often depict people gathering in groups. But what about those who are celebrating alone? Listeners who plan on being on their own for the holidays call in to share how they plan on celebrating, or how they plan on carving out some much-needed alone time amidst a season filled with pressure to gather.

Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.