Incremental cuts are working
Image via Wikipedia...I think the incremental strategy has worked so far. While I do not mind a push for bigger cuts, it could be we can get more by doing it incrementally. I would include the high speed rail funds that have been rejected by Republican governors in the next round of cuts rather than let the Democrats redistribute the money to big spending Democrat controlled states. These are cuts that the voters will embrace. We should also zero out the green energy boondoggles while we are at it.
There's every reason to believe the incremental strategy would continue to succeed. Democrats are flummoxed by it. They'd like to block more cuts, but they've been unable to explain why spending reductions of a few billion dollars at a clip are unacceptable. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tried, only to embarrass himself by saying Nevada's cowboy poetry festival might be jeopardized. Mr. Obama has prudently declined to wade in.
Democrats have themselves to blame for their predicament. They failed to pass a 2011 budget last year, and this year Republicans are taking revenge. By sticking together at the lame duck session in December, Senate Republicans managed to keep spending at last year's levels. Now the GOP is cutting from that baseline.
The latest extension expires on April 8, around the time Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, releases the Republican budget for 2012—giving the GOP another opportunity for a serious whack at spending. And in May or June, Mr. Obama will ask for a hike in the debt limit, one more juncture at which Republicans can press for spending cuts and budget reforms.
Nevertheless, Republican dissidents fear jumbling proposed budgets with the debt issue will confuse voters and allow Democrats to block cuts. It might. At the same time, Republicans would be looking at a target-rich environment for cuts that reduce the size and reach of Washington.
This is all the more reason for the GOP not to provoke a government shutdown. Yet dissatisfied Republicans are willing to risk one by opposing further short-term extensions of spending. Fifty-four House Republicans voted against the three-week extension passed on March 15. "Nobody wants a government shutdown, but unless we take a stand, we will shut down the future of our children and grandchildren," Mr. Pence said.
Would a shutdown give Republicans more muscle in negotiating for cuts? Some Republicans speculate it would "clarify" the sharp differences between what Republicans are seeking and what Democrats want, prompting most Americans to side with Republicans. Maybe it would. But it might not.
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The idea is to keep picking off programs that are hard for Democrats to defend.
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