Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) will announce his budget plan for 2012 tomorrow. Why are they introducing a plan for next year before they’ve even finished their work on this year’s budget. If you ask me, it signals that the Republicans are going to make a deal rather than let the government shut down. They know that their base is going to be angry about many of the provisions of the deal (including, especially, funding for ObamaCare) so they want to get out in front of the announcement by telling people that next year they’ll be cutting $4 trillion.
The Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee said his party’s budget proposal for 2012 would cut deficits by more than $4 trillion over the next decade, vowing to tackle costly entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid.
They’ll never succeed in passing Ryan’s plan but it allows them to provide a face-saving measure for all the blowhards who talked about getting everything they want despite not controlling the Senate or the White House.
Meanwhile, progressive Democrats aren’t going to like any deal either. It will likely include nearly $40 billion in cuts in spending just between now and September. A lot of that spending won’t be missed, but it won’t help the unemployment situation and some important programs are going to take a major hit. Hell, even Obama has proposed halving heating assistance in next year’s budget. So, we’ll have plenty to complain about.
So, I’m pretty sure the Republican leadership is going to capitulate, figuring they’ve won as much as they can. Whether the base of the left and right will get in line to pass their deal? I’m not sure yet that Boehner has control of his caucus. And Pelosi? She might vote against the deal herself.
