Brother, can you spare 38.2 trillion dimes?posted by Rhaomi at 10:42 AM on April 8, 2011 [10 favorites]
Unless the Republican House and Democratic Senate agree on a 2011 budget plan by midnight EST, the United States will suffer its first government shutdown in over fifteen years, suspending nonessential services and furloughing some 800,000 federal workers indefinitely. While most reports highlight quibbles over just how many billions to trim from the budget, the true impasse lies in a series of bold policy riders attached to the budget proposal passed by the House GOP. Among many other things, they would bar EPA regulation of CO2, prohibit prisoner transfers from Guantanamo Bay (again), cripple FCC net neutrality rules, limit abortion rights in myriad ways, strike down dozens of environmental and economic programs, and deny funding for the Democrats' landmark 2010 healthcare reform bill -- measures President Obama has deemed a dealbreaker. With polling split and Tea Party rider supporters spinning viciously to shift blame for the deadlock on Obama and Senate Democrats, it remains to be seen whether a shutdown will backfire on Speaker Boehner as it did for Newt Gingrich back in 1996. But this fight is only the first salvo in the upcoming funding battles -- House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan has drawn harsh criticism for his radical 2012 budget roadmap, which calls for trillions of dollars in cuts along with deep tax breaks and the privatization of Medicare. With Congress at its most polarized since the Civil War, is there any hope for compromise in Washington?
posted by Sailormom at 6:37 AM on April 8, 2011 [5 favorites]