As I had anticipated, with the clock running out, Republicans and Democrats cut a deal that will keep the government running, and cut spending by $38.5 billion for the remainder of the year. It’s deal that conservatives should be happy about.
To be sure, conservatives didn’t get much of what they wanted. They didn’t get $100 billion in cuts, or even $61 billion. Planned Parenthood won’t be defunded, neither will ObamaCare. And the EPA won’t be stripped of funding to regulate carbon emissions. But let’s get real. There’s a liberal president and a liberal Senate — House Majority Leader John Boehner cannot impose his will on the rest of the government.
But he did use what leverage he had to get a lot more out of Democrats than they wanted to give up. Democrats didn’t want any spending cuts, and President Obama’s original budget proposed spending that was $78.5 billion higher than what was agreed upon tonight. (The House and Senate are passing a seven-day stopgap measure that will cut the first $2 billion and give lawmakers more time to craft a final draft of the bill.) The deal includes a provision that would deny federal funds to pay for abortions in Washington, DC and would allow for Senate votes on the Planned Parenthood funding ban and repeal of ObamaCare — both of which will force vulnerable Democrats into tough votes. And keep in mind that the ban on Planned Parenthood funding would have expired at the end of the budget year — Sept. 30 — anyway.
Not only did Boehner extract these concessions from Reid, but he managed to get these cuts without going through the ordeal of shutting down the government. Boehner now looks like an honest broker and somebody who is reasonable — a big departure from the image of the petty Speaker Newt Gingrich during the 1995/96 budget battles. There’s been a big debate over who would benefit most from a government shutdown, but my view is that at best, it’s was a tossup, and at worst, it could have backfired on Republicans, and made them skittish about future, and more important, spending fights.
That would be a shame, because with the release of House Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget, there’s actually a proposal on the table to deal with the long-term driver of our nation’s debt, entitlements. Conservatives wanted $100 billion in cuts this time, yet Ryan’s plan proposes a spending reduction of 58 times that amount, putting the nation on a stable long-term trajectory. And I’m sure there will have to be a lot of compromise on next year’s budget, too. I don’t expect Obama to sign a repeal of the health care law he passed or suddenly adopt Ryan’s reforms to entitlements.
It’s important for conservatives to hold Republicans’ feet to the fire about spending, but it’s also important to be realistic about what can be done when the GOP only controls one chamber of Congress. With this deal, Boehner struck the right balance.
UPDATE: More details from Boehner here. Deal includes requirements for studies and audits of controversial Obama health care and financial regulatory provisions. The Washington Post reports that it also pumps money into the DC school voucher program that Obama had wanted to pull the plug on.
