The Hill News

I filed my column early Wednesday, and in it criticized the president for gunning for a shutdown, and noted the vice president, once tapped to lead high-level budget negotiations, had not returned to Capitol Hill. Hours later, after deadline â€" behold, Vice President Biden headed up to Capitol Hill last night, and suddenly a potential compromise of $33 billion in cuts is on the table. My column, published today, is now full of holes, but there are still points in there that hold true.
 
First, that Obama has not made the budget talks an urgent priority â€" until now â€" and hasn't personally engaged. Isn't it strange that he said he was committed to entitlement reform but has yet to even talk with House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Pa! ul Ryan (R-Wis.)? Second, that while Republicans remain divided, and Tea Party pressure to insist on the original sum of $62 billion in cuts is growing, they still made an effort to keep the government functioning by drafting both temporary spending measures passed since March 4 to keep the government operating â€" more than we can say for the Democrats.

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