The Hill: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday urged Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to ditch members of the Tea Party and cut a deal with Democrats to avert a government shutdown.“For the sake of our economy, it’s time for mainstream Republicans to stand up to the Tea Party and rejoin Democrats at the table to negotiate a responsible solution that cuts spending while protecting jobs," he said.
Reid insisted it is those GOP internal divisions that are threatening to shut down the government after April 8, in less than two weeks.
Last week Reid put $7.5 billion in discretionary cuts and $3.5 billion in mandatory savings on the table as a counteroffer to the $51 billion in additional cuts the GOP is seeking.Reid is trying to use the TEA Party as the reason for a government shut down. It won't work. Anyone with two eyes can see that the piddly little cuts Democrats and the Republican leadership are playing with are completely inadequate for tackling the deficit. So pretending that "progress" could be made if Boenher abandon the more sizable (but still inadequate) cuts the TEA Party wants is absurd.
This week Democrats are mulling raising the offer to $20 billion. But Democratic aides insist it is the divided GOP that must make the next move and come back to the negotiating table, not Democrats who must continue to negotiate with themselves and up their offer. [MORE]
The fact that Democrats have gone from zero cuts to a possible $20 billion, pretty much tells us that they are finding it harder and harder to resist spending cuts. Had the Republican leadership not been so "compromising" about cuts, Reid would probably be negotiating much more sizable cuts by now.
Via: Memeorandum
Via: The Hill