Dems Flirt with Government Shutdown
The fight that starts today over a “Continuing Resolution for Appropriations for FY2011” stands either as an error by the Democratic Party leadership or the White House. It could hurt Democratic chances to retain the House this November.
To summarize: at the end of this week Fiscal Year 2010 ends and FY2011 starts. But, Congress has failed to pass even a single spending bill for FY2011. Under the Constitution, no monies can be spent in the absence of an appropriation. So, Congress must act in order to keep the government open after midnight Thursday.
So, why is the CR (as it is known on the Hill) bollixed up?
The President decided to request $20 billion in new spending and asked the Democratic leadership in Congress to attach it to the pending CR. Republicans object to the additional monies, especially in light of a variety of pledges to cut spending back to FY2008 levels.
So, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has begun the well-worn cloture path to try to pass the CR, with the extra $20 billion included.
One wonders what arcane reasoning produced the extra $20 billion request. The two biggest political issues in the land right now are government over-spending and jobs. Why Democrats would want a fight on spending literally five weeks before Election Day leaves one perplexed.
What is especially strange about the entire matter is that Congress could simply pass a CR with no amendments at all (called a “clean” CR) and make it effective until late November, when the Lame Duck session could deal with the issues within the $20 billion request.
In short the Democrats have picked an unnecessary fight at an inopportune time with no upside.
The CR will pass, but it is likely to be clean—unless the Democratic Congress decides that a shutdown of the government is politically beneficial. If that is the ultimate strategy, Congress might be wise to review the results of the 2005 government shutdown.