One Side Already Compromised

This budget battle is not occurring out of the blue.  There was the 2011 debt ceiling battle, and the budget battle last winter.  As a result of those battles, we are funding government at levels far below those preferred by President Obama and Democrats.  The economy has already been suffering because of sequestration and these other cutbacks.  Kevin Drum summarizes:

Democrats have already agreed to fund the government at Republican levels. In other words, they’ve already caved in. It wasn’t even a compromise. They’ve just flatly given in to Republican demands to continue funding at sequester levels.

Now if the Republicans really want to negotiate, let’s start with President Obama’s budget as the Democratic position.  From there we can compromise.

By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.