As our own Susan Ferrechio reported yesterday, Democrats are having an awfully hard time rounding up the votes for their “extenders” bill in both the House and Senate. And today, Reuters advances the story with more Democratic House members expressing concern and doubting that the votes are there:
The House of Representatives was expected to vote on the measure later after slashing its costs by nearly a third on Thursday, but prospects for passage appeared uncertain as centrist “Blue Dog” Democrats still believe it would add too much to the deficit.
The “Blue Dogs” are worried about the price tag and the deficit, but only because their own wasteful spending to date — think “stimulus package” — have put their backs up against a fiscal wall.
They don’t have any choice about passing the “extenders” bill or the war bill. If they fail to pass the former, then Medicare reimbursement rates will plunge by 21 percent, and Medicare patients nationwide will literally be unable to find doctors to treat them. Can you imagine the consequences in an election year when Democrats have already upset senior citizens with Obamacare? Yet they face another political danger if they pass the two bills with a combined cost of between $200 billion and $250 billion.
The problem with gambling away all of your rent money is that you still have to pay the rent afterward. That’s where this Congress currently stands.
