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Politico...
Democrats pessimistic
about avoiding shutdown
By Manu Raju & Glenn Thrush
3/30/11
The White House is intensifying negotiations with House Republicans —
including dispatching Vice President Joe Biden as an emergency emissary
— but congressional Democrats increasingly fear that it may be too
little, too late to avert a government shutdown.
“We’re probably looking at a shutdown,” said Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.).
“Right now, they look a bit dismal,” Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said
when asked about the prospects of keeping the government running beyond
the April 8 deadline.
Across Capitol Hill, expectations grew Tuesday that — given the
procedural and political obstacles ahead — the parties will fail to
reach an agreement, which would prompt a massive government disruption
in just a matter of days.
And while both sides are already engaged in a sort of blame game in
advance of a potential shutdown, they are also bracing for the
political blowback.
Republicans are nervous about appearing intransigent under a barrage of
Democratic attacks contending the GOP’s tea party wing is making
“extreme” demands that will lead to a shutdown. Democrats, meanwhile,
are worried about their own culpability — and they’re concerned that
President Barack Obama remains publicly disengaged from the budget
negotiations.
“The president has got to take out his veto pen and say, ‘Below this, I
will not go, and I will veto it,’” said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), whose
26-year career spans the budget battles during the Clinton
administration. “He’s got to really dig his heels [in] on some things,
and he’s got to come out more forcefully for revenues. He’s got to come
out for revenues.”
Without an accord, the federal government could suffer its first
shutdown in 15 years — and it couldn’t come at a worse time, with a
still-struggling economy, exploding national debt and three high-stakes
military operations in the Arab world.
Dianne Feinstein was a junior Democratic senator from California when
the last shutdown occurred — and she said it’s “hard [for Obama] to be
as involved” as President Bill Clinton was then, given the wars abroad.
But she added: “Would it be helpful if he could? Yes. ... It takes
clout to push toward a compromise, and nobody has the clout that the
president has.”
There’s an added risk for the White House in pushing too much for
compromise: If Obama gets involved and makes a deal with the GOP on
billions in cuts, there will be blowback from the liberal base.
“You have to rely on both parties — so, therefore, you may get a large
number of your caucus opposing this resolution at the end of the day,”
said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). “You’ve got to be prepared for that. ...
That, to me, that’s what leadership is about.”
Behind the scenes, the White House insists that it is deeply involved
in day-to-day negotiations — even if the president isn’t talking about
it publicly.
Read the rest of the story at Politico
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