House Republican leaders turn to moderate Democrats for budget deal

[ClarkUSA]

Source: Washington Post

Unable to find consensus within their own ranks, House Republican leaders have begun courting moderate Democrats on a budget deal to avoid a government shutdown at the end of next week.

The basic outline would involve more than $30 billion in cuts for the 2011 spending package, well short of the $61 billion initially demanded by Republican freshmen and other conservatives, according to senior aides in both parties. Such a deal probably would be acceptable to Senate leaders and President Obama as long as the House did not cut social and regulatory programs that Democrats support, Senate and administration aides said.

The fact that Republican leaders are turning to Democrats to pass a funding measure shows how divided the GOP caucus remains more than two months after taking over the House, as well as the difficulty that Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) has had in satisfying the demands of the 87 freshmen who came to Washington promising to cut the budget at all costs.

Boehner’s leadership team recognizes that any legislation that meets with approval from his most conservative flank — what Democrats call as the “perfectionist caucus” — would be dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-republican-leaders-turn-to-moderate-democrats-for-budget-deal/2011/03/29/AFb8KbyB_story.html

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For all of Boehner's bluffing, Republicans are really bad at playing chicken.

Stand firm, President Obama and Congressional Democrats!

[elias49]

1. I'd tell them to go f*#^ themselves.

But then I'm getting older and I have less patience than I used to.

[Wilms]

2. Smart move.

Blue Dogs are generally pretty reliable Republicans.

[w4rma]

3. Democrats should ask for cuts to military programs and give them their $61 billion that way. (nt)

[cstanleytech]

13. True but it should be increased to 500 billion

from the military, after all it just makes no sense to me why we are spending 800 - 900 billion per year for our defense spending when China and Russia combined dont even break 150 billion for theirs.

[Trajan]

4. Boehner finds the Blue Dogs are more compliant than the Extreme Right Wing Whacko wing of the GOP ?

Whu'd have thunk ?

[MannyGoldstein]

5. Chill Out, I've ... please take the silverware too, it's worth something!

[Sonicwall]

6. No deal. They must agree to a 95% cut on defense first and foremost.

I want the Republicans to take a sacrifice, first. They must agree to the rollback of * tax cuts, and agree to raise taxes on their own people - yes, the top 1% that holds 85% of the wealth.

They want corporate fucking personhood? Fine, let them pay taxes like the rest of us. And they are the deadbeats.

[Grassy Knoll]

7. How's that teabagger thingy workin out fur ya now ?

All that money spent on the tea party to beat democrats
is kicking the crap out of your own party, What is funny
is that they didn't THINK, they counted on the baggers to be
traitors and be Republicons. LOL

[reformist2]

9. With the teabaggers so impossible to work with, Dems may still have effective control of the House.

[Grassy Knoll]

10. Reminds me of a song......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1cjUA9jadM

[msongs]

8. repubs always searching for the weakest links and frequently finding them nt

[ProudDad]

11. Gee, how much are those "moderates" going to cut out of the fucking war machine?

<crickets>

[jwirr]

12. Democrats need to be extremely careful - what rethugs want is to

make them complicit in the budget cuts - then they (rethugs) will share the blame at election time. I think that Obama is able to do this because he makes it clear it is him reaching out to them and that they are the ones backing out of anything that helps the country but it will not be as easy for a blue dog to claim that.