Remember the Chinese fable of the mighty emperor who agreed to give a wily supplicant one grain of rice for the first square on a chess board, double that for the second square, double again for the third and so on, before he realised that he would be giving away his whole kingdom's supply before the board was half-finished.
The Senate on Monday rejected, 35-62, an attempt by conservatives to amend the final package with an offset provision to cut federal programs across the board by one-half of 1 percent through 2021.