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Republicans Are Winning the Budget Fight
wsj ^ | 3/27/11 | FRED BARNES

Posted on 03/27/2011 7:37:05 PM PDT by Nachum

The incremental approach is working and embarrassing Democrats. Why should the GOP risk a government shutdown?

Some of the most disgruntled folks in Washington these days are conservative Republicans in Congress. They believe their party has abandoned the cause of deep spending cuts that spurred the Republican landslide in the 2010 midterm election. They say their leaders are needlessly settling for small, incremental cuts.

Moreover, this demand for bigger cuts and defunding of liberal programs—immediately—comes from prominent members of the House, not just excitable freshmen. "This is our mice or men moment," according to Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Allowing Democrats more time to negotiate "will only delay a confrontation that must come," said Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, chairman of the House Study Committee, added: "We've made some solid first downs. Now it's time to look to the end zone."

The end zone is far away, however, and impatience won't get Republicans there. Impatience is not a strategy. It may lead to a government shutdown with unknown results. To enact the sweeping cuts they desire, Republicans must hold the House and capture the Senate and White House in the 2012 election. Then they'll control Washington. Now they don't.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: budget; fight; republicans; winning
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1 posted on 03/27/2011 7:37:06 PM PDT by Nachum
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To: Nachum

I love Fred Barnes but I think the GOP should just refuse to vote to raise the debt limit and then the Dems would be forced to make huge cuts to keep up with the interest payments on the TBills. It would be a lot easier.


2 posted on 03/27/2011 7:42:11 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: Nachum
Clearly a weak nancy boy with a defeatist attitude.
3 posted on 03/27/2011 7:43:47 PM PDT by Prokopton
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To: Nachum

Americans everywhere realize that the US cannot sustain the level of current spending and that government spending must be cut and then kept under strict control.

So far only fiscal consertvatives (the clear majority of whom are republicans) are willing to do that.

They also realize that the size scope and intrusion of government must also be greatly reduced.


4 posted on 03/27/2011 7:44:15 PM PDT by scorchedearther
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To: Nachum

Fred Barnes is a typical establishment Republican. He’d be willing to accept growing deficits as long as conservatives will buy his magazine and vote for RINOs.


5 posted on 03/27/2011 7:46:15 PM PDT by NRG1973
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To: Nachum
"Public opinion seems to support Republican efforts to cut spending without shutting down the government," notes Keith Hennessey, former domestic policy adviser to President George W. Bush, and some recent polls back him up. Mr. Hennessey supports a gradualist strategy. "Don't change tactics," he says. "Just ratchet up your demands a little."

Yeah, GWB's domestic policy was so great it helped the GOP keep the House and Senate all through his Presidency, and the White House in 2008... uh...

6 posted on 03/27/2011 7:47:17 PM PDT by DTogo (High time to bring back the Sons of Liberty !!)
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To: Georgia Girl 2

The GOP should force dems to make a choice: large cuts to government spending or shutting down the government.

Let the dems be the ones to decide to shut the government down by their unwillingness to make large budgetary cuts especially those programs that the federal government should not be funding in the first place of which there are many.


7 posted on 03/27/2011 7:47:27 PM PDT by scorchedearther
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To: Nachum

Republicans must hold the House and capture the Senate and White House in the 2012 election. Then they’ll control Washington.

Just like last time. What would make the GOP into government size cutters?


8 posted on 03/27/2011 7:50:00 PM PDT by freedomfiter2 (Brutal acts of commission and yawning acts of omission both strengthen the hand of the devil.)
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To: Nachum

At six billion of cuts every three months, the Republicans will have the 1.6 trillion dollar deficit eliminated in 67 years.

Huzzah! We are winning! Not in a Patton-esque kind of way, more of in a Montgomery-esque kind of way.


9 posted on 03/27/2011 7:51:44 PM PDT by MontaniSemperLiberi (Moutaineers are Always Free)
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To: Nachum
I am most definitely going against the current on this thread. I happen to think that the public is getting an education with the way Boehner is handling this. As it plays out over time, more and more insidious wasteful projects are coming to light. And the dems cannot make a case to keep most of them.

If the Republicans go for it all at once, the political PR will be that they want to starve the poor and the elderly, and this will hurt the cause in the long run. By dealing with it piece by piece, while very frustrating and very slow, progress is being made, because the dems cannot make a case to keep specific proposed cuts in the budget. At some time, the big ticket items will have to be hit, but now is not the time.

10 posted on 03/27/2011 8:06:18 PM PDT by mlocher (Is it time to cash in before I am taxed out?)
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To: Nachum
To enact the sweeping cuts they desire, Republicans must hold the House and capture the Senate and White House in the 2012 election. Then they'll control Washington. Now they don't.

This is the loser's mantra. They will never control the senate and the whitehouse unless they are aggressive now. Waiting for re-informcements while the situation gets worse is not a winning philosophy. They have the forces to press the fight...Fight Now!

11 posted on 03/27/2011 8:11:23 PM PDT by CMAC51
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To: MontaniSemperLiberi
"Huzzah! We are winning! Not in a Patton-esque kind of way, more of in a Montgomery-esque kind of way."

I think we are "winning" more like in a Charlie Sheen kind of way.


12 posted on 03/27/2011 8:15:15 PM PDT by CapnJack
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To: Nachum

Fred Barnes’ premise is once the GOP controls all levers of government, THEN it will slash spending, cut stupid productivity-killing regulations, and restore fiscal sanity to America. Does anyone here believe that? Because I’m not seeing it.


13 posted on 03/27/2011 8:19:12 PM PDT by Big E
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To: scorchedearther

“The GOP should force dems to make a choice: large cuts to government spending or shutting down the government.”

Either way works for me.


14 posted on 03/27/2011 8:27:58 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: mlocher
I agree with you.

Boehner is winning this fight. Remember, he's currently winning cuts on the DEMOCRATIC budget (this is the one the Dems were supposed to pass in 2010).

The first real Repub budget (for 2012) hasn't even been discussed yet...that is where the Repubs will get much more of what they want.

15 posted on 03/27/2011 8:29:56 PM PDT by Siena Dreaming
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To: Nachum
Next stop for this, apparently, drug-crazed dufus will be CNN. With absurdities like this he'll fit right in!

Without the words: "defunding obamacare", the guppie jack-offs are doing just that!

16 posted on 03/27/2011 8:45:11 PM PDT by SuperLuminal (Where is another agitator for republicanism like Sam Adams when we need him?)
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To: MontaniSemperLiberi
The budget they are working on now is this year's fiscal budget that the Dems should have done last year.

They haven't started on the 2012 budget yet.

17 posted on 03/27/2011 8:47:14 PM PDT by lonestar (It takes a village of idiots to elect a village idiot.)
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To: Nachum

It’s Fred Barnes—what do you expect him to say? Losing is winning. Cutting a tiny bit is cutting a lot. For heaven sake, don’t rock the boat.

Problem is, without massive cuts now, we run up another $3 trillion in debt before we take over Washington in 2012. If we don’t win out in 2012 and we don’t cut now, the rats just start with a much higher deficit to add to after 2012.

I’d be happy to sink the boat and start over. That’s how sick I am of Washington, all rats, and most Republicans.


18 posted on 03/27/2011 9:03:13 PM PDT by ModelBreaker
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To: Nachum

Michele nailed it! and Bonehead has to go,there is NO cure for his Beltway infection!!


19 posted on 03/27/2011 9:07:49 PM PDT by Cheetahcat ( November 4 2008 ,A date which will live in Infamy.)
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To: CMAC51
This is the loser's mantra. They will never control the senate and the whitehouse unless they are aggressive now

They only have one half of the legislature. Their power is limited until they get the Presidency back.

You cant impose if you dont have the leverage. That's politics 101, like it or not. This is probably the best route for now.

20 posted on 03/27/2011 9:16:40 PM PDT by Nonstatist
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