Dems cause the problem, then get the media to blame Repubs....
Will it work again?
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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.
Democratic leaders insist, however, that they really want separate bills to pass and that they prefer to avoid an omnibus.
“That is not our intention at all,” said Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill. “If they want to cooperate with us and bring the bills to the floor, we have six or seven bills that have cleared committee. We’re ready to move.”
In predicting a replay of the last government shutdown, Republicans have cast Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in the role of Gingrich (1979-99), who in 1995 was in his first year as Speaker.
Gingrich and other GOP leaders tried to hold the line on fiscal 1996 spending bills, triggering a shutdown in November 1995, when a stopgap government funding bill (PL 104-31) expired. A second government shutdown followed in December 1995, when another stopgap bill (PL 104-56) expired.
http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002559000.html
Will it work again?
-------------
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.
Democratic leaders insist, however, that they really want separate bills to pass and that they prefer to avoid an omnibus.
“That is not our intention at all,” said Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill. “If they want to cooperate with us and bring the bills to the floor, we have six or seven bills that have cleared committee. We’re ready to move.”
In predicting a replay of the last government shutdown, Republicans have cast Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in the role of Gingrich (1979-99), who in 1995 was in his first year as Speaker.
Gingrich and other GOP leaders tried to hold the line on fiscal 1996 spending bills, triggering a shutdown in November 1995, when a stopgap government funding bill (PL 104-31) expired. A second government shutdown followed in December 1995, when another stopgap bill (PL 104-56) expired.
http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002559000.html
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