Paul Ryan: House GOP Will Negotiate With Senate On Government Funding Bill

WASHINGTON -- House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) acknowledged the obvious on Sunday: The resolution he and his colleagues passed Saturday morning to keep the government funded would not survive the Senate in its current form.

But in gaming out how Congress will negotiate a continuing resolution before the current one runs out on March 4, the Wisconsin Republican provided some telling hints. GOP leadership, he said, would accept a short-term extension of funds to keep the government running while negotiations with the Senate on a long-term deal continued. Those funds, however, could not be at the same level as the current continuing resolution; they'd have to contain cuts.

"Well, our goal is to bring spending back down to pre-bailout, pre-stimulus spending levels, 2008 levels," Ryan said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "My guess is we'll probably have some short-term extensions while we negotiate these things with spending cuts. We don't want to accept these extremely high, elevated levels and so we're going to have to start negotiating on these things not just with the Senate but also with the president as well. I'm not going to go through negotiating through the media, with all due respect, but we are not going to accept these extremely high levels of spending. We're not looking for a government shutdown. And I think we'll have some negotiations with short-term spending cuts in the interim is my guess."

Ryan's remarks suggest that, even as the alarm on funding the government is set to go off, Congress is prepared to hit the proverbial snooze button. A short-term extension of funds is something that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) had been hesitant to embrace, though late Friday he said he'd back a stopgap that came in lower than current spending levels. Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) proposed an extension of current funding until March 31. But Republicans said they would not be satisfied without securing some cuts.

How modest or bold those cuts on a funding stopgap should be will quickly become the focal point of the debate, as lawmakers work with the Senate to find a more lasting resolution.

"I don't think the Senate will pass this cut," Ryan said. "We will have to negotiate. Look, we're not looking for a government shutdown. But at the same time we're also not looking at rubber stamping these really high, elevated spending levels that Congress blew through the joint two years ago."

This piece has been updated to more closely characterize Speaker Boehner's position.

Comments

[kcleung8947]

05:33 PM on 04/02/2011

Just tax the rich and the business. As the bible said, whoever are given more will be asked to give more.

[chazzman]

06:04 PM on 02/22/2011

It is a fact, when wealthy people and Corporations receive big windfalls they spend it on themselves. The trickle down theory does not work. Wealthy people and Corps buy things to line their pockets and enhance their images. The poor workers at the bottom of the heap get next to nothing. We are looking at the return of the Robber Barons. With India and China jocking for position as the world's number one in Population and Wealth, we need to wake up now. The rest of the world is not going to be in a position or even want to help the USA. All the great Empires of the world failed and went into decline. Mostly from the inside out.
GBA

[thegreenchick]

05:14 PM on 02/22/2011

When the GOP says they want to bring spending down to the levels of 2008, I ask, "will that include OFF-BUDGET expenditures such as were prevalent during Bush's administration?"

[Peter Everts]

10:33 AM on 02/22/2011

Apparently Republicans can't spell Egypt, Tunisian, Iran, Madison. They should keep in mind that paybacks from the masses can be hell. Ask Marie.

[211rabbitears]

12:43 AM on 02/23/2011

They keep thinking the rest of us no action. But they are all talk. And the more they talk, the worse they sound to all of us. ;)

[Elbrando]

09:14 AM on 02/22/2011

The republicans are not looking for a temproary shutdown. They are looking for a permanent shutdown.

[evolutionforall]

08:42 AM on 02/22/2011

"We find that over the last 100 years, stimulus has in most cases cut levels of public debt as a share of GDP, and fiscal consolidation has increased the debt."

(from: http://triplecrisis.com/obama-and-congress-cant-cut-the-budget-deficit/ )

Can we have political discourse acknowledging history and bipartisan expert analysis? Or should we just continue to argue from 'our gut' and our simplistic views of the way things are supposed to work?

[Dee Amschler]

02:37 AM on 02/22/2011

Did Rep. Ryan fail grade school vocabulary? Or perhaps civics in high school? Negotiation involves COMPROMISE! Compromise involves MUTUAL CONCESSIONS. Mutual concessions isn't "OK, we didn't shut the government down so now you roll over and play dead while we get to pick what all gets cut". Mutual concessions would be something like "we won't shut the government down and we'll give up our insistence on ___________ in return for which you'll ______".

If what Rep. Ryan says is the ONLY way that Republicans know how to "negotiate", then I pick we cut subsidies/bail outs to banks and ALL corporate farmers, we cut the defense budget, we cut corporate welfare and we kill the tax cuts - in return for which LIHEAP, Pell Grants and funding for safety net programs is reinstated at or above 2010 levels PLUS we get a guarantee of no corporatization of SS or Medicare until at least 2016 and only then with good INDEPENDENT studies showing effectiveness (which means no studies from corporate, investment or banking sources).

[wpmiller]

01:19 AM on 02/22/2011

" But Republicans said they would not be satisfied without securing some cuts."

Great! Let's cut the Defense budget and the subsidies to BP and other oil companies and call it a day!

[SARA POHLMAN]

12:11 AM on 02/22/2011

Reading some of the recent posts is bringing back ancient history lessons about the Middle Ages
You remember the ones about serfs and fiefdoms

[Paul Shene III]

10:24 PM on 02/21/2011

The Republicans claiming they don't want a government shutdown are LYING. They want to cut the pipeline of assistance to those in need. The wealthy got their tax break which is being hidden under a mattress, not being invested to create jobs.

If this condition continues, we will either have bloodshed, or fascism. Or god forbid both.

[JudgeMoonbox]

12:09 AM on 02/22/2011

"The Republican­s claiming they don't want a government shutdown are LYING."

I'm sure they don't want a government shutdown in the same way they don't want class warfare. What they really want is for the Democrats to simply give in without any fuss. That's quite different from wanting to prevent the shutdown.

[Paul Shene III]

12:54 AM on 02/22/2011

F&F ...

That is exactly what a bully wants... the opponent to cave without a fight.

[Ben Tucker]

03:46 PM on 02/22/2011

1. Wrong
2. Wrong
3. Wrong

We don't want the government shut down, we want it limited.
There is a difference between those in need and those that choose to be in need.
The tax cuts are not just from the wealthy. 75% of those making over $250,000 (getting tax cut) file as a small business. Do you know who employs the most workers in this country? Yup! Small businesses. You know what happens when you raise taxes on small businesses? Yup! People get laid off. Get it out of your head that the tax cuts are just going to people like Donald Trump and Steve Jobs. They are going to normal Americans who are trying to stay afloat and at the same time employing the vast majority of this country.

[thegreenchick]

05:27 PM on 02/22/2011

1 - If the GOP wanted government limited then why are corporate subsidies not on the chopping block and programs that benefits the working people and disadvantaged are.

2 - Who chooses to be in need,--- exactly? We have, cushy pension programs for congress members considered sacrosanct, but Social Security and Medicare, programs paid for through working people's payroll deductions are positioned under the cleaver and framed as "entitlement programs" to subconsciously influence the fiscally responsible.

One could use the term "entitlement" for congress's pension program wherein they are fully vested after only five years, eligible to retire at age 62 and, depending on length of service, eligible for full or partial pensions at age 50. Do the elderly, on fixed incomes, without those cushy congressional pensions "choose to be in need"?

3 - Small business owners will tell you that what is hurting them are unregulated banks that tanked the economy and are now hording cash. It is the fat cats that pour money into GOP campaign coffers and are fighting regulation that are hurting small businesses. We teach our children that when they show self-control they can be free of parental-control. Why should we expect less from adult businesspersons and their industries?

[JudgeMoonbox]

08:23 PM on 02/22/2011

"The tax cuts are not just from the wealthy."

So Gov. Walker is lying when he says that he has no options but to cut. If that were true, he would not be cutting taxes. Period.

"They are going to normal Americans who are trying to stay afloat"

People didn't seem to have much trouble staying afloat in the late 1990s. If there was trouble below the surface, I should think the Supply Side economists would have found it instead of resorting to the absurdity of saying that ANY tax cut will bring in more revenue--as if abolishing taxes will make so much money just drift into the government's nets that we won't know what to do with it.

[silverwolf13]

08:45 PM on 02/21/2011

So I gather from Rep. Ryan that he is ok with deficits like those of 2008, so long as no funds are directed to anyone reporting less than $250,000 in annual gross income. Liberals are of course outraged at cutting spending for the unemployed, and rhe Tea Party is outraged at the deficits. You have to admit that it takes talent to outrage both ends of the political spectrum at the same time, not to mention the moderates who are outraged at his partisan rhetoric. I gather that Mr. Ryan is angling to increase his salary for the Cato Institute post he expects to take in 2013.

[Reno Fickler]

07:19 PM on 02/21/2011

Ryan's remarks have the same impact as what comes out of the south end of a north bound male bovine. The odor is also remarkably similar.

[Charles Shackelford]

06:31 PM on 02/21/2011

Any real negotiations on current budget figures are irrelevant. The GOP leadership is a dishonest partner in addressing solutions inclusive of all working Americans which would lower budgets in the near and long term future if jobs were created and more tax revenues subsequently created to fund legitimate programs such as Social Security and Medicare. The balance sheet is out of whack, but bailouts have gone to banks rewarded for criminal behavior and incompetence in the "free market". International oil cartels, quite able to afford to pay fair taxes, are pampered. The "upper investment classes", afforded great tax breaks, have little interest in necessarily funding new jobs. The GOP wants to make these tax cuts permanent with no strings attached, happy to allow the unemployment rate to soar while companies continue outsourcing. All that matters for the GOP is the corporate bottom line and the returns to shareholders. Period. They operate on an ideological economic model which does not include most people while preaching the opposite. The miracles of the free market and the creation of jobs by continuing tax cuts for the wealthy is the game the GOP has always played. We are enjoying its fruition and unfortunately most actually believe these clowns have solutions while they slash everything from which most benefit. Certainly austerity measures are in order, for the long term and based on some viable economic plan inclusive of all Americans and not the fascist model being promoted by Mr. Ryan and his cronies.

[wpmiller]

01:24 AM on 02/22/2011

Republican Credo:

Love business
Hate people

[Ipanemagirl]

06:13 PM on 02/21/2011

well if they su hut down the goernment, they will be also have to assume all the blame for the havoc they will have caused! Even though Fox news will spin it around somehow to blame it on dems, you have to be pretty stupid not to realize that GOP is Guilty guilty guilty!

[silentknight65]

06:02 PM on 02/21/2011

Obama said in 2008: "No need to Boo...just vote! Get out and tell all your friends and neighbors to get out and vote........" Those were his exact words!!!

WEREN'T YOU LISTENING????

LET'S THROW THESE REPUBLICAN SONS OF B*T*HES OUT AGAIN NEXT YEAR, BEFORE THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF US TO SAVE!!!

Pretty soon, they will be saying "Let them eat cake....." We all know where that led to....