The White House and Congressional leaders are holding one last meeting to determine whether they can prevent a government shutdown starting Friday. They'll be gathering at 10:15 AM. Here's how the White House "Daily Guidance" previews the meeting:
Later in the morning, the President and the Vice President will meet with Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Chairman Dan Inouye, and Chairman Hal Rogers to discuss ongoing negotiations on a funding bill to bring us through the end of the fiscal year. The President has made clear that we all understand the need to cut spending, and significant progress has been made in agreeing to all work off the same number - $73 billion in spending cuts in this year alone. With the process running short on time, the President will urge leaders to reach final agreement and avoid a government shutdown that would be harmful to our economic recovery.Yes, we know "has made clear that we all understand the need to cut spending." He bought into the GOP talking point last year. And, they're working off the GOP's proposed numbers. As John wrote last night, the Republicans are offering another one-week extension, which includes another $12 billion in cuts (but the Pentagon is exempt.) From John:
Why are we constantly debating on the Republicans' own terms? Perhaps because the President caved on this issue a year ago and we've never fully recovered since. Those of us who warned that it was a seriously bad move by the President to "admit" to the GOP talking point that the deficit had grown too big and needed to be addressed immediately (thus pulling the legs out on any remaining public support for the stimulus) - we warned that this would come back to bite him in the ass, and we were sadly, again, right. Just as we predicted that the Republicans would get the message when the President said in December, famously, that he'd rather cave than let hostage-takers kill the hostages. So prepare for another hostage crisis. And another, and another, and another...And, next up, the Paul Ryan/GOP 2012 budget disaster. Let's hope the White House has a much better strategy for that.
Oh, and all the spin that GOPers don't really want a shutdown? Not true. They outed themselves last night:
House Republicans huddled late Monday and, according to a GOP aide, gave the speaker an ovation when he informed them that he was advising the House Administration Committee to begin preparing for a possible shutdown. That process includes alerting lawmakers and senior staff about which employees would not report to work if no agreement is reached.An ovation. Yeah, they're honest brokers.
