–Democratic Senator Says GOP Leaders Under Huge Tea Party Pressure
–Speaker Caught ‘Between a Shutdown And a Hard Place’
–GOP Leaders Should Accept Deal With $30 Bln in Spending Cuts

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Moments after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
offered some conciliatory comments Tuesday on the status of budget
negotiations on the 2011 fiscal year budget, Sen. Chuck Schumer, the
third ranking Senate Democrat, accused House Republican leaders of
pulling out of a possible agreement.

In remarks on the Senate floor, Schumer said Democrats offered
additional spending cuts last week and it appeared that House Republican
leaders were poised to accept the package to end the stalemate on the
FY11 budget.

“We could begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but
suddenly at the end of last week, the House Republicans did a strange
thing. They pulled back from the talks. They changed their minds about
what level of spending cuts they could accept,” Schumer said.

“We were right on the verge of a potential breakthrough, and they
suddenly moved the goal posts. We felt a little bit like we were left at
the altar,” he said.

Schumer said that House Speaker John Boehner appears to want to
reach an agreement on the FY11 budget, but is under considerable
pressure from the Tea Party faction to resist any compromise.

“So Speaker Boehner is caught between a shutdown and a hard place,”
Schumer said.

The 2011 fiscal year began on Oct. 1 and the government has run on
six short-term funding bills. The most recent stop-gap bill will fund
the federal government until April 8.

House Republicans have been seeking $61 billion in spending cuts
from portions of the FY11 budget. Congress so far has approved $10
billion in cuts.

Schumer indicated that Democratic leaders offered a new proposal
with $20 billion in additional spending cuts.

Boehner now faces a clear choice to either “return to the deal he
was prepared to accept before the Tea Party rebelled last week or risk a
shutdown on April 8,” Schumer said.

“The Speaker has a choice: appease the Tea Party and shut down the
government or take the right and principled stand and move the
government forward by coming to a reasonable compromise,” he said.

Aside from the level of spending for FY’11, there are disputes
about whether the final package should include policy riders which House
Republicans are advocating.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

[TOPICS: M$U$$$,MFU$$$,MCU$$$]