> Tea Party wins their first budget fight
>
> That went fast. Yesterday's Wonkbook lede was about the $32 billion in
> cuts that the House Republican leadership had previewed for the rest
> of 2011. Today lede is about the $100 billion of cuts they're now
> searching to find for 2011. Why $100 billion? Because the campaign
> promise was to cut $100 billion in their first budget, and House
> conservatives revolted against efforts to cut even a dime less.
>
> ... So now House leadership is stuck in a place it really didn't want
> to be: Making $100 billion in cuts to non-defense discretionary
> spending that have to be carried out in the next seven months. Boehner
> and his team came in determined to avoid the mistakes that newt
> Gingrich made. They were going to be humble, they wouldn't overread
> their mandate, they wouldn't go for draconian cuts in services that
> weren't defensible once they had to be explained. They lost. They're
> going to need to propose three times as many cuts now....
>
> This loss, much more than the failed votes on the extension of the
> PATRIOT Act or funds for the United Nations (both of which were
> brought to the floor under a rule requiring a 2/3rd majority for
> passage) shows that the House GOP leadership has little sway and less
> control over the rank-and-file. The Republican Study Committee seems
> more powerful than the Republican leadership at this point. The budget
> proposal produced by Rep. Jim Jordan won out over the one favored by
> Rep. Paul Ryan. If I were a betting man, I'd say the odds of a
> government shutdown -- either over cuts or the debt ceiling -- just
> went up dramatically.