Budget Battle: Dems Set Traps

With each continuing federal budget resolution, the Democrats and Republicans are inching closer to an unavoidable political Armageddon that will determine how serious both sides are about slicing the balooning national deficit.

Democrats are spoiling for a showdown that will result in the Republicans forcing a government shutdown. Nothing would please Democrats more. They believe the move would backfire on Republicans, leading to a public outcry that would compel the opposition to scrap its efforts to shave billions from the federal budget.

Democrats have history on their side. The last time this happened under President Clinton the Republicans took a beating in the media, which forced an epic retreat while handing the Democrats a political victory.

In any budget showdown, the Democrats hold the magic bullet. As a result of a budget impasse, the administration gets to pick and choose which federal programs will be suspended or slow-tracked until a budget agreement is reached. Under Clinton, the list included national parks, veteran benefits' payments and Social Security checks. Democrats were determined to select the most popular programs and turn off the spigot to deal maximum pain across the body politic.

Even as this is written, Democrats are laying the groundwork for a budget standoff. One Democrat after another has been trotted out to the lapdog media to complain about Draconian budget cuts that will hamper the (non-existent) economic recovery. Included in their statements has been the implicit warning that Republicans want government to grind to a halt to punish America's downtrodden and dependent.

As expected, media reporting of this issue has been one-sided. Story after story has appeared quoting so-called experts about how the cuts will gut clearly beneficial programs. The latest is media coverage on the Republicans' planned cuts in scientific research, which Democrats purport will undermine economic recovery. This falsely assumes the current budget level is appropriate, which the media has no interest in examining.

However, the media has left out one important fact in this budget debate over billions of dollars in government programs. The current standoff would not even be possible, if the overwhelmingly Democrat controlled Congress would have done its job and approved a 2011 budget last year. It was a colossal failure in leadership on the part of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Obama. However, the media would never point out the obvious because it remains solid in the Democratic camp.

The dirty little secret is that Democrats wanted no part of approving a budget last year. With voter anger boiling over mounting deficits, Pelosi and Obama dared not unveil a budget that continued the massive spending binge. The pair wanted to get past the elections before showing their cards on the budget. Their strategy obviously backfired because the Democrats suffered huge losses in the mid-term elections despite punting the budget issue into 2011.

Democrats should be made to pay for their shameless political maneuver. Republicans should begin highlighting the Democrats' failure to do its job last year has created this budget mess. There would be no prospect of a government shutdown without the complicity of Democrats. GOP leaders have to underscore that point in every utterance on the budget, placing clear blame at the collective feet of Pelosi and Obama.

In addition, Republicans should be prepared to face a favorite Democrat budget ploy of hauling poor people, handicapped and seniors before the television cameras to weep on cue over planned GOP budget cuts. Its coming as soon as the Republicans shape their final budget.

To beat the Democrats to the punch, the GOP should begin hosting forums of small business people, economists and middle class citizens, highlighting how the current deficits are undercutting the economic recovery. They must get out ahead of this issue because the media will fall in line with Democrats once they unleash their publicity campaign.

Democrats have one other trick up their silk suit sleeves. President Obama has avoided sending a budget to Congress because he wants Republicans to be the first to make a run at cutting entitlement programs. Even the president's own bi-partisan deficit reduction panel recommended slashing the entitlements.

However, expect the president to develop amnesia on this one. Once the GOP does the heavy lifting and begins trimming entitlements such as Social Security, the President will squeal that the cuts will hurt seniors. This will allow him to make saving entitlements a theme of his reelection campaign.

That's why Republicans should insist that the President weigh in on entitlements before the final budget vote. Otherwise, he will get a pass on an issue sure to inflame voter passions on both sides of the debate.

Republicans must avoid the Democrat's clever traps and get this right. Nothing less than the economic security of the country depends on it.