This week in Washington, it's the same old routine. Another day, another vote to approve a "Continuing Resolution" (CR) to fund the government for another few weeks. Such nonsense is necessary because the Democrats never approved a budget for the 2011 fiscal year, so our country now needs to pay as we go.
Congress approved a CR to avoid a government shutdown in the first week of March, slashing $4 billion from discretionary spending in the process. Now they're hoping to fund the government for another three weeks and slash an additional $6 billion. This piecemeal approach has conservative groups fuming and Tea Party candidates clamoring for a full-scale strategy to solve the country's fiscal woes.
The original plan in the House was to approve a spending plan for the rest of FY 2011 that contained $100 billion in spending cuts. The final bill was trimmed down to $61 billion, and that in and of itself infuriated some of the more conservative members of Congress. Michele Bachmann, for one, actually voted against it.
The Democrats in the Senate made a counter offer to cut $6 billion, which along with the $4 billion that was already being cut in the CR, totalled $10 billion in cuts. That left a ridiculous rift of $50 billion between the two proposals, causing each side to label the other's proposal as a "non-starter."
While the clock ticks, more money is needed to fund the government, hence the need for another CR. But Speaker Boehner is close to having a revolt on his hands, and one can only wonder if a government shutdown can ultimately be avoided.
The way I see it, you have three distinct camps. First, you have the liberal Democrats who want to borrow, borrow, borrow and spend, spend, spend. They are obviously deaf, dumb, and blind as they apparently are still unaware of the resounding message sent by the American people last November. You think maybe the voters were trying to tell our leaders to cut spending? Sure seemed that way to me. But some of these politicians are so firmly entrenched in their districts that the other side has no hope of ever unseating them, and that leads to an unrelenting arrogance that makes them actually think that they know what's best for the people of our country, even if the people tell them to do the opposite.
Second, you have the conservative faction, comprised mainly of Tea Party candidates. They are frustrated because they did hear the message of the people last November. They ran for office to carry out the people's wishes. Now though, they are seeing firsthand how difficult it is to do that in Washington's burdensome bureaucracy. Most of them went along with the first CR, but many of them are ready to vote against the second one. Even if the second one passes (and early indications are that it will), there is a real possibility that at some point, and sooner rather than later, the conservatives will ban together and hold their ground, even if it results in total gridlock.
Finally, you have those in the middle who are trying to satisfy both ends of the spectrum and broker an agreement. But their job is a difficult one, and it remains to be seen whether it can actually be done. When you're $50 billion apart, where do you even begin to negotiate?
Of course, it would be nice to have a President in office who actually demonstrates leadership and was willing to step up and take the bull by the horns in this crucial matter. But unfortunately, that is not the case. Instead, we have Barack Obama, a man who has chosen the approach of "strategic disengagement" instead. He's just going to stand back and let the chips fall where they may, and worry only about his chances for re-election in 2012. I'm so glad that he has his priorities straight.
Some in Congress still continue to insist that cutting discretionary spending is insignificant and that it should just be left alone. But the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just released a report showing that this claim is undeniably false. The CBO said that if discretionary spending is cut even by 1% each year over the next decade, the country will save $1.8 trillion. Insignificant? I think not.
What's clear to me is that there are still too many people in Washington who just don't get it. But it should come as no surprise because massive changes rarely occur overnight. The mid-term elections were a major step in the right direction, but not enough to solve the problem just yet. It will take at least until 2012 to reach that point.
The Tea Party continues to take aim at moderate Republicans like Olympia Snowe of Maine, and will be mounting major challenges to claim even more congressional seats next year. Many Democrats are quaking in their boots as well, especially after saying good-bye to several of their colleagues after last year's shellacking.
I predict that if this absurd charade of "Continuing Resolutions" goes on and on, then the people will eventually get fed up. If another year passes and little progress is made, then the voters will once again remove those leaders who are not serious about balancing the budget and reducing our debt. There will be another shellacking in 2012, and maybe after that we'll finally reach a point where our government can accomplish what is needed to restore fiscal sanity. Until then, we may just have to count the days.
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