Hey, Republicans -- Let's Play Chess Not Russian Roulette On the Budget and the Government Shutdown
By Bradley Blakeman
FOXNews.com
It is clear that Democrats are trying to sucker
Republicans into not making a deal on the 2010
budget so they can blame them for the
government shutdown on April 9.
If Democrats were serious about working with
Republicans, the president would have not given
a speech last week on
energy policy, he would have been shuffling
Republican and Democratic leaders through the
White House taking charge and making a deal.
If
Democrats were serious their point man on
budget negotiations Vice President Biden would
not have exited from ongoing talks with GOP and
Democrat leadership, for a trip to Russia
followed by a four-day ski vacation in Colorado.
Democrats want a government shut down and
already have their talking points down. Instead
of working in good faith to reach a compromise,
Democrats in the House, Senate and White House
were crafting a public relations offensive
blaming the
Tea Party for the failure to reach a 2011
budget compromise with Republicans.
Just last week, Senator
Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was caught red-handed
schooling his fellow Democrats in their "blame
game" strategy. As Schumer was preparing to
participate in a
conference
call with reporters, the phone line was
already open, so reporters could hear him
finishing up his cabal with Democrats.
This is what Schumer advised:
"The main thrust is basically that we want to
negotiate and we want to come up with a
compromise but the Tea Party is pulling Boehner
too far over to the right."
"I always use the word extreme," said Schumer,
the third-ranking Senate Democrat who is in
charge of his party's political
messaging. "That's what the caucus
instructed me to do the other week."
Isn"t the Democratic Caucus suppose to be
working on preventing a government shut down
instead of laying the ground work for one?
It became quite clear that his colleagues
quickly acted upon Schumer's lessons because
following his briefing this is what his students
parroted to anyone who would listen:
As if on cue, Sen.
Barbara Boxer, D-California, urged Boehner
"to abandon the extreme right wing of his
Republican caucus and come and compromise with
us."
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Delaware, Blames the Tea
Party when he accuses "some of our right-wing
extremist friends in the House" for not making a
budget deal.
Then there was, Sen.
Ben Cardin, (D-Md.), He urged Boehner that
"this is not about satisfying the extreme
elements of the Republican caucus."
Republicans better be smart enough not to take
the Democrats' bait with regard to shutting down
the government. Republicans need to play chess
not Russian roulette when it comes to the 2011
budget negotiations. When playing chess a player
must not only think about the move he or she
makes they must think three moves ahead and
anticipate their opponent's moves. When you play
Russian roulette long enough someone is bound to
get hurt.
With only 5 month to go in the 2011 budget
cycle, this is no longer about getting a 2011
budget, it should be about the next battles, the
raising of the debt limit and the 2012 budget.
Republicans should make the best deal they can,
call the Democrats' budget bluff for 2011 and
then hunker down for a bare-knuckle fight over
the debt ceiling and the passing of a 2012
budget. And they should get to work on this
ASAP.
If there is no budget compromise on the 2011
budget and the government does shut down, the
president, (who will by then be an announced
candidate for re-election), will travel the
country showing the American people the "damage"
that is being caused to our economy and deflect
the blame to Republicans. House and Senate
members will return to their districts and do
the same. And I can promise you the media will
be a more than willing partner to blame the Tea
Party and give Democrats the kind of coverage
they seek.
Republicans must act smartly. You can win the
battle but lose the war. Their mission now
should be a laser-like focus on the 2012 budget
-- they need to work on eliminating waste,
cutting government spending and dealing with
entitlements like
Social Security,
Medicare and
Medicaid once and for all.
Let's face it: the cuts proposed by both
Republicans and Democrats of $60+ billion or
$30+ billion dollars respectively are a mere
pittance in government spending compared to a $4
trillion dollar annual budget. This is a huge
game of chicken, and Democrats are betting that
Republicans will flinch first.
Republicans would be wise to put the 2011 budget
to bed and then hop on the
Paul Ryan 2012 budget train. Representative
Paul Ryan, (R-Wis), is the Chairman of the House
Budget Committee and will unveil this week a
2012 budget plan that will rein in current
government spending, and reduce the deficit by 4
trillion dollars over the next 10 years.
Representative Ryan's budget plan exceeds the
recommendations of the president's own
bipartisan Debt Commission. Recommendations, the
onese
President Obama himself has rejected as
being too aggressive.
Ryan's plan not only deals with current spending
levels, but it tackles the root causes of our
untenable long-term debt,
Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
While Ryan seeks to raise the age of retirement
none of his recommendations would adversely
affect anyone over the current retirement age or
the poor.
Republicans need to realize that their long term
goals of real and substantial fiscal
responsibility is more important than a short
term gain that could be seen as a loss in the
big picture by the American people.
Republicans need to remind the public that
President Obama was unable to pass his budget
when his party controlled the White House, the
Senate and the House with high majorities.
Here is my plea to my fellow Republicans: Make the deal, whatever deal you can in 2011 and live to fight and win the main battle in 2012. You will not be blamed for compromising on the 2011 budget. The American people understand that you can't negotiate with a gun to your head while time is running out to make the deal you were fighting so hard for.
Bradley A. Blakeman served as deputy assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001-04. He is currently a professor of Politics and Public Policy at Georgetown University. He is a frequent contributor to Fox News Opinion.