By IBTimes Staff Reporter: Subscribe to IBTimes's RSS feed
September 25, 2011 1:26 PM EDT
Most Americans have seen this movie before: With less than six days until a possible U.S. Government shutdown, considerable differences remain between Democrats and Republicans on the content of a resolution that would keep the federal government open past Sept. 30.
In a nutshell, Senate Democrats want a larger Hurricane Irene / tornado / disaster relief bill and no offsetting spending cuts, whereas House Republicans want a smaller disaster relief bill with its spending offset by cuts to programs important to the Democratic Party -- including job-creating programs.
Third Time in Five Months U.S. Government Shutdown Looms
This is the third time in five months that the U.S. Government has been pushed to the brink of a shutdown, and if voters are beginning to conclude that "gridlock" is the norm in Washington, one can't blame them.
Democrats argue that linking spending cuts to disaster aid is unprecedented at best and cruel at worst.
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Republicans counter that federal spending is too high, and with a $14 trillion national debt, all areas and funding situations have to be considered eligible for cuts.
From a public approval standpoint, the seemingly continual bickering and partisanship has taken a toll -- Congress' approval rating is already very low, and this latest stalemate most likely will not improve the mood of voters.
Republicans argue that they have the stronger argument in the current dispute, saying voters will deem it unacceptable that Democrats won't agree to a modest $1.6 billion in spending cuts.
Democrats argue that they have the stronger argument, saying the willingness of the Tea-Party-faction-dominated Republican Party to hold victims of Hurricane Irene, the massive floods in the Northeast, and the tornadoes in the Midwest hostage so that the Republican Party can achieve a purely partisan goal will come back to haunt the GOP in the November 2012 election.
Gov. Christie: Flood Assistance Should Be Beyond Politics
What's more, if the sentiment of some select state governors is any indicator, the parties need to reach an agreement soon, lest voter displeasure intensify and broaden to a stance of "a plague on both your houses."
Governors of four Northeast U.S. states, including Gov. Chris Christy, R-New Jersey, issued a statement that "federal assistance for the victims of storms and floods should be beyond politics."
On Friday, the Democratic-led Senate, as expected, made short work of rejecting a House GOP-authored, stopgap funding bill, 59 to 36, thus increasing the likelihood of a U.S. Government shutdown.
Further, as of last Friday afternoon in Washington, it was unclear what the roadmap to stalemate resolution would look like. The current resolution to keep the U.S. Government open expires Sept. 30, one day before the federal government's new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1. Without an agreement by the end of Thursday, Sept. 30, the federal government will run out of money.
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