Democrats Say GOP Complaint of Spending ‘Shutdown’ Strategy Doesn’t Add Up
cq today
Republicans are uttering a word that for 12 years has been utterly unspeakable.
Shutdown.
It’s a word that can send shudders through those who saw the last one — actually, two — play out after Republicans took control of Congress in 1995. The Newt Gingrich-Bill Clinton standoff was so traumatic that since then, neither party has ventured anywhere in that direction.
This year’s appropriations tug-of-war between a new majority in Congress and a president of the opposing party does not appear to be headed for a government shutdown, but a rhetorical taboo was lifted when the word became part of the partisan message of the moment.
“The obvious plan of the Democrats is to not do appropriations bills but put everything together in a giant omnibus appropriations bill in a kind of legislative blackmail with all of the policy and increased spending, to in effect threaten the president to either sign the bill or be accused of shutting down the government,” Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the chairman of the Republican Conference, said Wednesday.
President Bush has threatened to veto seven appropriations bills because together they would exceed his discretionary spending limit by more than $20 billion.
Congressional veterans are certain the two sides are headed for a whopper of a fight over a catchall, omnibus appropriations bill.
Former Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said he believed that a settlement was possible to avert a government shutdown at a time of war.
“It’s too early to predict a shutdown like 1995,” Hastert said. “Democrats know the president can’t shut down the government in the middle of a war. They shouldn’t be pushing him to the wall.”
The House expects to complete all of its fiscal 2008 appropriations bills before the August recess. But the Senate aims to complete only two of its spending bills by then: Homeland Security (HR 2638) and Military Construction-VA (HR 2642).
Reid scoffed at Republicans who say they are worried about the pace of appropriations work in the Senate.
“Maybe they should have thought of that before my filing 45 cloture petitions, where they’ve rejected everything we’ve done,” Reid said. “We’re going to work through these appropriations bills as fast as we can.”
And while Democrats rebuff Republicans and their accusations of shutdown politics, the majority is throwing some brickbats of its own.
“They’ve been stalling,’’ said John W. Olver, D-Mass., chairman of the House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee. “They are nihilists. They are jihadists.”
Wild Thing’s comment………
Here is a very clear example pointing to a democrat who has no clue about the jihad, global jihad; war on terror, and the global war on terror:
John W. Olver, D-Mass Referring To Republicans “They are nihilists. They are jihadists’
OH puhleeeese! Give me a break!
We didn’t fly those planes into the buildings and into the ground in Pennsylvania.
We didn’t start this war.
This war was started years ago under a certain dummycrap president from Georgia. Anyone remember the Iranian Hostage crisis?
And no Al Qaeda in Iraq? Guess again–they were wrong on that one, too.
I’d rather be smart and conservative than stupid and liberal.
Does this gumball even know what the root and definition of nihilist is? Used in his context, it shows ignorance and makes no sense.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Nihilists were “born” as Russian Liberals in the 1860’s and were instrumental in the assignation of Alexander II. Certain Democrats, especially Hitlary, are the closest to being nihilists of anything I can conjure.
They (nihilists) were also instrumental in the killing of untold numbers of Jews and making my ancestors flee for their lives (escape cassocks) to America. By the way, the three brothers learned English forthwith and excelled in business.
Shalom
Steve is correct, this guy is an idiot. The dems have their panties in a bunch because the Republicans which are few in both houses refuse to roll over for them. The nation has forgotten who the obstructionists were from 2000 to 2004, Tom Daschle and Richard Gephardt both come to mind. they were replaced by similar but less intelligent obstructionists, from the CPC realm. Harry Reid is the new Tom Dashle, but the power shifted to them last election and now they’re the ones complaining because rational minds object to Communist rule and for good reason, Communism has killed many more then Hitler could have dreamed of and he was a Socialist too(National Socialist German Workers Party), a NAZI. For a two party system that appears to have the same end goal the prospects are frightening when you consider that the Democrats want to fast track the United States into a Socialist one world Marxist state and at the same time our president is trying to do the same, only slower with Canada and South America. I don’t trust any of them with my family’s future. Spot on Lynn. Shalom Steve.
Lynn, LOL I agree well said!
Steve,you are so right, he is not only stupid to use those words but he shows how little he truly cares about what happened to Jews in how lightly he uses those words.
Shalom Steve
Jack me either, I don’t trust any of them.