Back in August, the Republicans made a deal on the debt ceiling that set overall spending at $1.043 trillion for the next fiscal year. Speaker Boehner has said that he feels bound by that agreement. I think that’s very nice. Imagine, he thinks a person should keep their word. I am almost surprised. In any case, only three appropriations bills have been passed, and there’s $900 billion left to spend. Since Congress is out of time, they’re going to put all the bills (except defense) into an omnibus bill. If the omnibus bill doesn’t pass by Dec. 16th, most of the government will shut down.
The Republican leadership has reportedly read the polls and concluded that another government shutdown will give them a lower public approval number than Satanic ritual murder. However, their rank-and-file members are like the Honey Badger. They don’t give a shit. There are enough Republican house members opposed to honoring the debt ceiling agreement that Boehner needs to crawl on his hands and knees to Nancy Pelosi and beg for some Democratic votes.
That’s a problem, because Boehner’s nutty caucus wants to attach all kinds of obnoxious ‘riders’ to the omnibus bill. They want to limit what the EPA can do about greenhouse gases. They want to defund public broadcasting. They want to defund Planned Parenthood and all Title X Family Planning programs. They want to cripple the healthcare and Wall Street reforms. They want to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in its crib. They want to prevent the courts from determining whether the grey wolf is an endangered species. But, Nancy Pelosi doesn’t approve of any of these riders, and the Senate Democrats are unlikely to be too keen on most of them either.
So, Speaker Boehner is in a bit of a bind. He wants to include at least some of these riders in a bid to gather more Republican support, but he won’t get enough support to overcome his need for Democratic votes.
The question for GOP leaders is how many votes the riders can buy.
Some 50 House members signed a letter in September saying they would not support any appropriations measures at the $1.043 trillion level, suggesting the riders’ value is limited. Leaders no longer have earmarks to sweeten the pot.
The House Republican defections have empowered House Democrats at the negotiating table, and they have made it clear they will not support any omnibus that contains “ideological” riders.
“House leaders have to decide which is more embarrassing, a large defection or a government shutdown,” one Democratic aide said.
It sucks to be Speaker.
