Government Shutdown

I don't agree with much of anything Harry Reid stands for, but I take my hat off to him for being an effective politician. To the extent that he is able to cast the looming governmental shutdown as being because of other than fiscal reasons, he is effectively making the case that Republicans are not serious about fiscal responsibility. The so-called riders that he claims are part of the Republican demands are policy issues not fiscal (abortion etc). His claim that the two sides have agreed to the amount of money to be cut and are now wrangling over policy issues will hurt the conservative cause with a lot of independent voters if there is a governmental shutdown. Because the actual talks are being held behind closed doors we do not know what is really going on. It is another case of the public being influenced by the spin doctors, not the substance of the issue.
 
Hopefully, the actual situation is different from that which Senator Reid is projecting. If the Republicans are, in fact, inserting policy issues into the Continuing Resolution fight it is almost certainly because of pressure from over zealous Tea Party members in and out of Congress. Hopefully Speaker Boehner can eliminate those demands before the midnight deadline and reach a compromise with Majority Leader Reid. If that actually irritates those Tea Party members, I say shame on them. If, on the other hand, it is just part of the inevitable kabuki play that is American politics, then no problem. Speaker Boehner is in a critical seat at a critical time in the history of this nation. What he does today will not, in and of itself, decide the outcome of the 2012 elections, but it will certainly contribute significantly.
 
I continue to urge conservatives to compromise on the continuing resolution and fight hard for a sensible 2012 budget that actually sets a downward trend to government spending. The Continuing Resolution is the wrong fight. (See previous post on this subject for full rationale.)