$6 Billion Budget Cut: A ‘Limit’ For Democrats

A top Senate Democrat said Sunday that the $6 billion in additional spending cuts that his party offered is the limit Democrats can accept - drawing a line well short of Republicans’ goal with less than two weeks to go before a government shutdown if the two sides can’t agree.

Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat in the chamber, said the $6 billion proposal, released Friday, has “pushed this to the limit” on domestic spending.

That comment stands in sharp opposition to a House Republican bill containing an additional $57 billion in cuts below 2010 spending.

Meanwhile, the Senate’s top Republican said his talks with President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. show that the White House is not serious about tackling longer-term spending challenges, making it difficult for Congress to work with the president.

Taken together, the short- and long-term budget fights show how tough it will be for lawmakers to find common ground on the single biggest issue facing them over the next six months.

Republicans said they haven’t seen any commitment from the White House to talk about entitlement spending, which is the big driver of long-term deficits.

“I’ve had plenty of conversations with them. What I don’t see now is any willingness to do anything that’s difficult,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said on CBS‘ “Face the Nation” program. “So far, I don’t see the level of seriousness that we need.”

The immediate test for lawmakers is to try to head off a March 18 shutdown by passing a long-overdue 2011 spending measure.

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