JULY 26, 2013

     Some scary words are back in the headlines--budget shutdown, budget showdown, etc.

     The constitutional tools for such a mess are there.  To become law a bill must pass the House and Senate and be signed by the president.  The Senate and the president are Democratic.  The House is Republican.  Just the other day it passed a bill with no money for food stamps.  Can you imagine President Obama going along with that?  Neither can I.

      But the young, very ideological Republicans in the House want to fight.  Maybe they think they'll win;  I don't.  They are a lot more conservative than the country, I think.  Most Americans, I think, want to keep food stamps, don't want to make Medicare a voucher program, and so on.

     But somebody has to compromise or nothing passes.  Stories from the White House this week say Obama is toughening his stand.  The Republicans seem unlikely to embrace moderation.

     Interesting times are coming.