Building a nest for the lame duck
by digby
Earlier this week we had this:
All the Senate Republicans — and even some Democrats — who’ve attacked President Obama for refusing to embrace the storied Bowles-Simpson deficit-reduction plan in 2010 may end up with a chance to replace their preening with recorded votes.
Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) announced Tuesday that he will introduce the framework as a blueprint for the upper-chamber’s official budget resolution — a response to Republicans who for years have hectored him and his party for failing to advance a plan with a vision for the country’s future.
At a Capitol press briefing, Conrad downplayed expectations of the plan passing anytime soon, pointing out that it will take time for the fiscal commission report, issued in late 2010, to be adjusted for economic and policy developments that have occurred in the intervening months. He also expressed doubt that any long-term budget can be agreed to in the polarized 112th Congress.
“It’s going to require a lot of negotiation, and the negotiation is going to take time,” Conrad told reporters, adding that it “could be” months before the committee votes on a final product. “If one is interested in really getting a result, the time is not yet right. Nothing could be more clear. I don’t rule out being able to act more quickly.
Today we have this:
Senate Democrats are prepared to back House Republicans into a corner if they refuse to relent and fund the government next year at the level the parties agreed to during last summer’s fight over raising the debt limit. And two recent developments — a pre-emptive White House veto threat and an olive branch from Senate Republicans — make them think they have the upper hand.
“I hope that [Senate Republicans] can persuade their House members and their colleagues over there to come to their senses and come back to the deal that we made last August instead of threatening us with another government shutdown,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) — a Democratic Senate leader and appropriator — at a Capitol briefing Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he’s “glad” the White House stepped in and drew a bright line, and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters that Democrats will have the upper hand if House Republicans don’t back off voluntarily.
For now, House Republicans aren’t addressing whether they’ll bend on funding levels for the federal government. But Jennifer Hing, a spokeswoman for top GOP House appropriator Hal Rogers, lambasted the Obama administration for inserting itself into the process, and said the GOP and Senate Dems will reach an agreement on funding the government on their own.
It’s hard to know what the real strategy is, but I’m guessing they would prefer to stage a kabuki dance, extend the funding and deal with all this in the lame duck session. If Conrad can have the “new” Simpson-Bowles ready and waiting, it could be the template for one of those wonderful lame duck deals.
On the other hand, the Republicans are insane and might just think shutting down the government in the month before the election works in their favor. They do keep you guessing.
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