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Thursday, November 29, 2007
Deja Vu on Spending
The domestic appropriations fight is feeling like the war spending debate all over again.
The Democratic caucus is now behaving much like it did then. First comes disbelief that the President and his congressional allies are intransigent, then strategic confusion. If everything goes the same, the next step is full capitulation.
Leadership is also rhetorically ruling out using Congress's most powerful tool, the power to withhold funding unless the President gives in. Speaker Pelosi says the government won't be shut down, just like they would never withhold Iraq war funding. They're fighting with one hand tied behind their back. You only do that if you're more interested in making political statements than policy.
What if the government did shut down? They could send a CR with extra spending, or even the omnibus bill they're preparing, to the President just before the CR expires. In a day or two they could pass another CR that gets everything up and running again, and they could say, "look at the President, shutting down the government. We're responsible- we'll keep the government running if we have to. But we'll do everything we can to advance our popular agenda, even if that means momentary sacrifices."
Right now, the Democrats cannot say that they've done everything possible to advance their agenda. All signs point to more of the same next year, another year of gridlock, frustration and doubts about the competence and courage of the Democratic party. The risks of inaction aren't all that different than the risks of action.
Posted by Matt Lewis
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