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Wednesdays
with Emily Miller
Human Events...
Government Shutdown
02.23.11
The two words heard on Capitol Hill most often this week are government
shutdown. And these two words are most often coming from the exact
people who have the power to stop it: the Senate Democrats and the
White House.
The House Republicans passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) on Saturday
that funds the government for the remaining seven months of this fiscal
year at $60 billion less than current levels. The Senate Democrats and
President Obama only have to accept these spending cuts and pass the CR
by March 4 to avert a full government shutdown.
But, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-N.V.) refuses to bring the
House spending cuts to the floor for a vote because they are
“draconian.” And, the White House has threatened that Obama will veto
the CR if it “undermines critical priorities.”
The House CR’s $60 billion cut in spending equals only a cut of 3% of
the budget deficit this year. The budget deficit -- how much the
government is spending over how much it takes in -- is estimated to be
$1.6 trillion by the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
Now the House and Senate Democrats want a 30-day CR to buy them time to
negotiate a deal for a CR with less spending cuts than the Republicans
passed. However, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R.-Ohio) said that
he would not pass a CR -- for any length of time -- if it did not
include spending cuts.
Reid totally ignored Boehner and announced yesterday that the Senate
will vote next week on a short-term CR, which would keep government
spending at the current bloated 2010 spending levels. Reid’s refusal to
cut government spending for even the one-month CR has caused the
escalating threat of a government shutdown.
By next Friday, the Senate Democrats and the White House have to do one
of three things: pass and sign the House CR that cuts spending by
$60 billion, pass a short-term CR which cuts spending, or shut down the
entire federal government.
The ball is the Democrats’ court. They can keep playing politics with a
government shutdown to avoid cutting spending or they can listen to the
will of the American people. Let’s hope the Democrats keep the budget
ball in bounds for the sake of the already faltering economy.
Read it at Human Events
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