GOP Positions Itself For Shutdown, Working On Bill Called "Shutdown Prevention Act"

These are tactical moves, of course, and not substantive ones, of course, but you can't win the battle without good tactics.

So here's the bill's branding.

They are currently preparing a resolution — dubbed “The Government Shutdown Prevention Act” — that would formally scold the Senate for failing to act (some 39 days after the House passed a long-term budget resolution, H.R. 1, to cut federal spending by $61 billion) and urge them to pass a spending bill. It would also publicly reiterate the urgency of the situation — the current resolution funding the government expires on April 8.

The resolution will stipulate that if the Senate fails to pass a bill before April 6 that funds the government through the remainder of the fiscal year (September 30), H.R. 1 would become “the law of the land,” and members of Congress would stop receiving their paychecks.

I have no idea what that is supposed to mean -- the House can't just resolve that a bill, not passed by the Senate, shall become law of the land. Still, gotta love the bit about forfeiting paychecks.

Meanwhile, it's reported that the Democrats plan to offer another $20 billion in cuts, although of course they refuse to actually put such an offer forward with any specifics. They do like floating trial-balloons about vague plans to the media, but not so much making actual detailed offers which can serve as genuine negotiation-starters.

Which, by the way, is an age-old negotiation tactic, of course: Never state your number first, make the other guy state his and start bargaining in your direction from his number. But of course the Republicans already did offer their (too small) number, and still the Democrats refuse to negotiate.

But it's our fault, right?

The GOP really should hammer this point -- if the Democrats are actually negotiating, where is their actual counter-offer? Which is what Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California says is exactly what the GOP's thinking.

McCarthy, in an interview, tells NRO that House Republicans will not be bullied into accepting a vague offer from Senate Democrats. In fact, he says, the GOP will soon bring a bill to the House floor that chastises Harry Reid and company for their failure to pass an alternative spending plan. By publicizing how Democrats are handling the negotiations via a floor debate and a vote, McCarthy and the leadership hope to force their upper-chamber foes into action, or at least highlight their inaction.

“This bill will send them a message,” McCarthy says. “It will show the American public that they are not acting. Right now, [Sen. Charles] Schumer [D., N.Y.] is just putting this on us.”

McCarthy says that the House GOP’s floor strategy will attempt to hammer Democrats into putting their spending proposals on the table via legislation, not backroom whispers: “If they want to be lazy, we are saying with our new bill that we will fund the government, but we will fund the government at this level, because you won’t act.”

...

If Senate Democrats do not take the bait, and enact their own long-term spending package, the government could shut down, McCarthy acknowledges. That said, he believes that it will become clear in coming days that House Republicans have made every effort to avoid a shutdown.

Makes logical sense. Of course we have a biased media that doesn't really care about logic but only narratives that favor the Democrats, so.

posted by Ace at 01:16 PM

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