Washington — At a press conference this morning, House Speaker John Boehner threw cold water on a potential deal with Senate Democrats to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year. “Democrats are rooting for a government shutdown,” he said. “There is no agreement on a set of numbers.”
Last night, Vice President Joe Biden announced that party leaders had agreed to cut $33 billion from the federal budget. Boehner wagged his finger at the premature declaration. “You have heard a lot of talk over the last 24 hours,” he said. “Nothing will be agreed to until everything is agreed to.”
Boehner asserted that he wants to cut $61 billion from the federal budget, which is the number attached to the original House GOP spending plan that passed last month. “It is our position and we will continue to fight for everything that is in it,” he said. “We are going to continue to fight for the largest spending cuts that we can get, to keep the government open and fund it through the balance of this fiscal year.”
Playing down expectations about how much the House leadership can shape any potential deal, he noted, “we control one-half of one-third of the government here in Washington. We can’t impose our will on another body, we can’t impose our will on the Senate. All we can do is fight for all of the spending cuts that we can get an agreement to, and to spending limitations as well.” At this point, he added, he is “not very interested” in breaking with the conservative position with regard to the $61 billion in proposed cuts.
Boehner then saluted the Tea Party activists who are congregating on Capitol Hill this afternoon to rally and hold Boehner to his pledge. “I am glad that they are here,” he said. “I am glad that they are engaged in the process. I said, over a year ago, that we should talk with the Tea Party folks, that we should listen to them, and that we should walk amongst them. I don’t feel any differently about that today.”
While noting his appreciation for the Tea Party, Boehner chuckled that he is “well aware” that there are critics that have differences with the House GOP’s position and strategy on spending. “There are a lot of people in Washington who want us to do a lot of different things,” he said.
(Preface - my usual screenname is "Grant" but it appears to have been appropriate by someone who registered.)
I am not particularly hopeful, at this point. That said, we are talking about small-potatos political victories over necessary but relatively tiny amounts.
That said, I don't think that the Speaker really understands the power that the House has.
He really does not have to come to an agreement on anything with the Senate or the President.
"But" you might protest "he risks a government shutdown!" "And that's politically BAD (for more serious R goals)."
To which I'd respond - not really. The golden rule of legislating is that if the Bill is good enough, and the reasons for it simple and solid enough, the other side HAS to vote for it.
This is how war funding happens. "Are you going to defund our troops facing bullets on the front line?"
In this case, what the House needs to do is to avoid a shut down by passing funding measures which the Democrats cannot vote against.
Fund "essential" functions (as defined by OMB).
Fund social security (particularly enrollement).
Fund the Patent Office.
Fund the Parks.
One by one.
All the while, keeping the posture: "Lets fund what we agree on, first, and fight over what we disagree on after."
Dare the Senate or the President to not fund Social Security because they feel its so important to give $480B to classical music and talk radio and tv stations.
Dare them to not fund essential security functions because they feel its so important to send $360B to pay for cheap abortion mills.
They won't do it. It's too complex an argument on their part to respond to the simple argument on the House's part: Why are we holding up funding of new SS recipients, which we all agree on, over our disagreement on NPR?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI applaud the Speaker for his stand here.All Republicans should, be they Tea Party supporters or moderates.
For weeks now we have heard how the Republicans are split, etc. and how they are betraying the Tea Party, and how the leadership is dissing their more conservative members, even the people here at NR say the same thing.
Can we finally put all of this noise to rest now? All this fight is over a budget the Dems didn't have the guts to do last year. They are scum in every sense of the word on this issue, from Leader Reid and the President on down.
Ultimately, all of this is a sideshow for when the 2012 budget blueprint comes out in April. Then the Tea Party, conservatives, and everyone else who cares about the future of the country will have to go to political war. That is the document worth shutting government down over, and finding a way to defund and defeat the abusers, the spenders, and the socialists who control the Democratic Party.
If the Dems are willing to go to the mat now, just wait until it gets to be May or June and the House passes the budget then some authorization bills. The revolution may start then, since the Senate and Mr. Obama would rather see the country burn down to ashes than have their power and money access cut from them.
It's time to support the Speaker, and the House leadership, and get ready for the real brawl just around the corner.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI agree whole-heartedly with "TheRealGrant" above. Use the same formula the Democrats use to get unpopular funding for their "babies" like NPR and PP.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGet what you can while you can get it, then move on to the very next issue until their back is against the wall, and all that's left is not $61Billion in cuts, but the promised $100B, then cut the $105B hidden within the Healthcare Bill...Boehner made a promise to us, no waffling, just cut the budget along the lines that have been discussed during and after the election of 2010, then let's get ready to "clean Houses" next year.