The New York Times is keeping an eye on the "conservative values" (contradiction in terms?) being debated in Iowa this weekend. There's a strong push to make social issues the key rallying points for 2012. That works well for the fairly small coterie of tense and glittery-eyed guardians of everyone else's morals, but it works less and less well (to judge by what we're seeing here in the southern Plains) for regular Republican voters. If all they're talking about is abortion, gay marriage, and G. Zuss, they're in for trouble.
The Washington Post reports today on prospects for a government shutdown. As we've learned from polls lately, this has gone from being an issue where both parties are likely to be blamed to a point where Republicans take the fall if there's no settlement before April 8. Particularly if Boehner et al. are playing games.
Problems with the negotiations became public late Friday, as revealed in comments from Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the top three House Republican leaders. The apparent breakdown followed a Tuesday meeting among staff members for House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and representatives of the White House budget office on a possible deal for funding the government through the end of the fiscal year in September.
Democratic aides said talks had been underway for nearly two weeks between Boehner’s staff and the White House budget office, with steady progress leading to an agreement that the two sides would meet halfway between the $61 billion in cuts approved by the House and Democrats’ preference for maintaining current spending levels.
Since $10 billion in cuts had already been approved in two temporary funding resolutions, that position would require Democrats to come up with only an additional $20 billion to $25 billion, some of which Democrats hoped to take from health-care and agriculture subsidies programs.
But on Tuesday, according to Democrats, House Republicans changed the terms, insisting that negotiations start with the House-passed bill and that Democrats identify the cuts they couldn’t accept.
If the headlines begin to talking about Republicans playing games and changing terms and standing pat, Mr. Stolid "Gunner" Upright and Mrs. Pearls Upright will be "away" during the voting season.
