This morning, our friends at The Heritage Foundation released an open letter from the Foundation's president, Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D. Here is the key excerpt:
The debate then boils down to this: House Republicans have passed a bill cutting about six days of deficit spending; Senate Democrats have offered to cut the equivalent of a half-day of deficit spending. For the President and the liberals in the Senate to threaten a government shutdown over such a meager first step on the road to fiscal sanity is simply baffling.
Heritage Action agrees, which is why we've laid down the marker—no more short-term funding extensions. Dr. Feulner elaborates:
Those who constantly counsel "compromise" really seek to ignore the message that voters sent in the last election. In this business-as-usual coalition, you will find public-sector unions and the full array of liberal interest groups who profit from the endless and outrageous growth of government.
Those who were on the winning side of the November 2 elections should have no illusions about what is at stake, what the American people expect of them, and the consequences of shirking their responsibility. This is only the first skirmish in an epic battle to put America back on a path toward national solvency and federal responsibility. If we cannot trim a meager 2 percent from this year's budget, what signal does that send to credit markets? What does that say to future generations who will pay for Washington's lack of courage?
Conservatives must not blink. The stakes are too high and the challenges too great. Tell your Members of Congress to stand firm!