Democrats Threatening Government Shutdown?

Blog Articles · Sep 20, 2011 · Budget and Spending

After 9 months of blocking conservative reform proposals and then blaming conservatives for inaction and near government shutdowns, Democrats are now outright threatening a government shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) wants his way...or the highway, as President Obama would say. Even though his disaster relief bill passed the Senate and disaster relief is included in the upcoming Continuing Resolution (CR), Mr. Reid is still threatening to shut down the government. Why? Because conservatives dared to include some offsets for disaster relief funding.

Reid wants his $7 billion (a completely random number that takes no assessment of damage) and is unsatisfied with the CR's $3.65 billion, which includes $1 billion in offset cuts. Reid is now threatening to shut down the government over the difference. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) told Politico on Tuesday that:

"It'll be on leader Reid's shoulders because he's the one playing politics with it." "No one wants to stand in the way of disaster money. ... There is nothing else besides politics that is going on with that move."

If Sen. Reid is willing to shut down the government because he wants to add to the deficit, that is a fight conservatives should welcome.