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Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. Jeb Hensarling yesterday announced legislation they said was needed to prevent Democrats from causing a government shutdown.
Hensarling
Their bill would automatically continue to fund the government at the beginning of the fiscal year under a "lowest level" formula i.e., whichever is lower between the previous year's allocation or amounts set in House or Senate spending bills. OMB Director Nussle applauded the legislation, noting in a statement it was similar to proposals included in each of Bush's annual budgets and would ensure government operations continued while Congress completed its work.
Republicans have been alone in raising the specter of a government shutdown, forcing Democrats to repeatedly say they have no intention of shutting down the government. Cato Institute budget studies director Stephen Slivinski yesterday said both Republicans and Democrats will want to avoid a shutdown, since it's not at all clear whom the public would blame. "Neither side is likely to want to face a gamble like that," he said. "We'll likely see at least one continuing resolution. I think it's too soon to tell whether we'll see a long-term resolution like we saw at the beginning of this year for FY 2007."
said, "The scenario has never probably been greater for the government to shut down." Neither Democrats nor the White House has shown any hint of compromise on their $23 billion difference in discretionary spending, and with the beginning of the new fiscal year less than two weeks away, none of the 12 regular fiscal 2008 spending bills is expected to be sent to the president anytime soon. Democrats "were successful in '95 in being able to blame Republicans for a government shutdown," Hensarling said. "They want to dust off that play call in their book and use it again." |
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