April 8th.
That's the deadline for Republicans and Democrats to reach a deal on funding for the remainder of 2011. No deal? Then the government shuts down.
And if I were a betting man, that's where my money would be right now: the negotiations have become too acrimonious, the issues at their heart too numerous and personal to the parties, to make a deal likely even in normal circumstances. But in circumstances in which newly elected Republicans are trying to prove to their base that they won't catch Beltway fever and compromise while Democrats are trying to prove they won't get pushed around by a party that controls a minority of the federal government? A deal seems near impossible. One way you know that talks are going poorly is that, over the last 24 hours, reporters have suddenly been showered with leaks and inside information about what's holding up the talks.
It's not just that Republicans want to cut deeper than Democrats and pass a series of riders accomplishing longtime conservative priorities like defunding Planned Parenthood.
It's also that Republicans are insisting that the House's spending bill serve as a starting point for all negotiations and Democrats are insisting that if Republicans want so many cuts, they need to be open to the cuts coming from outside the non-defense discretionary bucket. So the fights over "what" and "how much" have been joined by fights over "from where" and "based off what." It's not a good sign, at this late stage in the negotiations, for the points of contention to be multiplying __
Congress' budget negotiations have reached an impasse, reports
Paul Kane: "With the possibility of a government shutdown again drawing closer, Congress is set to resume discussing federal funding for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, although a staff-level impasse remains unresolved...Those discussions broke down when the participants could not agree on the starting point from which to begin reaching middle ground, according to those familiar with the talks.
All sides are pushing for a comprehensive deal before the current funding resolution expires April 8, because neither side wants to approve another short-term extension of funding...Still unsettled among the aides is what to do with dozens of policy prescriptions on contentious social and regulatory issues that were attached to the House legislation." __
The debt commission's plan will make America weaker, writes Joseph Stiglitz: "The ballooning of the deficit since the crisis struck has understandably moved deficit reduction to the center of the debate. But the best way to reduce the deficit is to put America back to work. Overwhelmingly, the deficit increase has been caused by the enormous shortfall between the economy’s potential and actual output. Even as growth has resumed, the 'output gap'--reflecting in high unemployment--has persisted.
The Bowles-Simpson recommendations, if adopted, would constitute a near-suicide pact: Growth would slow, tax revenues would diminish, the improvement in the deficit would be minimal. What matters for sustainability is the debt to gross domestic product ratio -- and that likely could worsen."
Ezra Klein's Wonkbook
