Boehner vs. Obama - the Smart Money Is on Boehner

The US House of Representatives has dealt the first blow in the Battle of the Budget 2011. Early this morning House Speaker John Boehner rallied his majority after an all-night debate and they voted, 235 of them, for a budget bill that cuts more than US$ 60 billion from the 2011 budget. No Democrat voted with the majority.

Mr. Boehner has stated repeatedly that the GOP majority voted into office last autumn will follow the wishes of its voters and seriously cut the US budget. Democrats, including the President, are calling the goal a “meat axe” approach and the Republican answer is that a meat axe is exactly what the United States budget needs before it is too late.

The GOP has also cut funding for Planned Parenthood and for launching Obamacare.

In another bill, the Republican majority cut deeply into the Obama czar approach of naming high-level people to big-budget jobs by bypassing the Senate confirmation process, which would reveal something about their philosophies and practical plans.

A handful of czars saw their budgets cut, but there are at least 36 czars and Mr. Boehner has vowed to revisit the question.

These actions will face tough going in the Democrat-controlled Senate where Harry Reid holds the majority in his hands. Interestingly, 13 Democrats voted with the GOP on the czar issue and they may be the first rush to safety of Democrats who have lost their credibility by cooperating in the Obama spending orgy. President Obama has stated that he will veto any budget that does not meet his criteria.  

Add to this the March 4 deadline for enacting a temporary funding resolution that would enable the federal government to continue to operate, and the looming national debt ceiling debate set for later this Spring, and you have the makings of a 1994-style Clinton-Gingrich showdown. John Boehner has emphasized that neither the resolution nor the debt ceiling increase will be passed without serious budget cuts being included.

One would think that Obama would be careful about what he says and does these days, when there is such unrest on Capitol Hill, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. Monday he sent his White House political arm, Action for America, to Wisconsin to participate with the unionized state workers who are demonstrating against a budget proposal that includes their having to pay half their pension costs and 12% of their health care costs. While many Americans would be grateful for such benefits, these workers are now engaged in a sit-in at the state capitol building in Madison. Republican Governor Scott Walker has warned President Obama to stay out of Wisconsin politics, but Obama seems to want to show his support for one of the few voter groups that may still vote for him in 2012.

Perhaps Governor Walker ought to have said, “Mr. President, you have done more than enough damage. Stay out of politics altogether and let those who understand the problems solve them - before the country falls apart permanently.”