House Democrats Pull Budget Offer-The GOP Is Negotiating In Bad Faith, Obey Says

[babylonsister]

House Democrats Pull Budget Offer
The GOP Is Negotiating In Bad Faith, Obey Says

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 11, 2007; Page A03


A Democratic deal to give President Bush some war funding in exchange for additional domestic spending appeared to collapse last night after House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.) accused Republicans of bargaining in bad faith.

Instead, Obey said he will push a huge spending bill that would hew to the president's spending limit by stripping it of all lawmakers' pet projects, as well as most of the Bush administration's top priorities. It would also contain no money for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"When the White House continues to stick it in our eye, I say to hell with it," House Appropriations Chairman David Obey. He said he will push a stripped-down spending bill.

"Absent a Republican willingness to sit down and work out a reasonable compromise, I think we ought to end the game and go to the president's numbers," Obey said. "I was willing to listen to the argument that we ought to at least add more for Afghanistan, but when the White House refuses to compromise, when the White House continues to stick it in our eye, I say to hell with it."

House Democratic leaders were scheduled to complete work last night on a $520 billion spending bill that included $11 billion in funding for domestic programs above the president's request, half of what Democrats had initially approved. The bill would have also contained $30 billion for the war in Afghanistan, upon which the Senate would have added billions more for Iraq before final congressional approval.

But a stern veto threat this weekend from White House budget director Jim Nussle put the deal in jeopardy, and Obey said he is prepared for a long standoff with the White House.

"If anybody thinks we can get out of here this week, they're smoking something illegal," he said.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/10/AR2007121001615.html?hpid=topnews

[acmavm]

1. My two cents in hidden in this thread. From the title of the post you

can't tell its about the same article.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2445133

[endarkenment]

2. And then they will go right back in and continue negotiating with them.

Our party leadership, on one level, reminds me of Bart Simpson in the rat maze, or if you don't get that reference, Charlie Brown and the football, or if that still doesn't work:

"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, it's probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on ... shame on you. It fool me. We can't get fooled again."

Completely as an aside, the fool me once proverb is actually Chinese, while "we won't get fooled again" is from a Who song.