Fifty-four rebel Republicans defected from House Speaker JohnBoehner's rule this past week. The gentleman from Ohio, in what waslikely a traumatic moment for him, had to depend on Democrats topass the Republican stopgap budget bill.
Democratic Whip Representative Steny Hoyer, of Maryland, told TheNew York Times that Boehner is "riding a tiger," then added that thedanger with this is winding up inside the tiger's stomach.
This isn't Charlie Sheen "tiger blood" bluff talk. This is thereality of politics in Washington.
The Blue Dog Democrats can attest to that fact. They tried to out-do the Republicans and tea partiers by opposing health reform andextending the Bush tax cuts - only to be thanked with defeat at thepolls in November.
In truth, Boehner cannot control the tea party. Like hispredecessor, Nancy Pelosi, both major parties have their share ofprincipled partisans. And they are also textbook ideologues.
Like some liberals in my own party (yes, I am a Democrat), teaparty Republicans don't have a political philosophy - they worshipat the altar of a political theology. Only some of these guys do nothave tossing out heretics in mind - it's more akin to burning themat the stake.
As many longtime observers of Capitol Hill now fully understand,the tea party Republicans are turning the budget bill into acatchall for narrow, special-interest social interests. They aregung-ho on attaching non-germane social legislation such asrestricting funding for abortion, Internet neutrality and regulatingglobal warming, to the fiscal year 2011 budget bill.
Their insistence on these measures and so many others areweighing down budget compromises, and slowing negotiations to asnail's pace. It is now political reality that Boehner will not beable to pass a bill to keep the government running until the end ofthe fiscal year without some Democrats.
The tea party Republicans loathe what they see as their leader'samoral approach, and are determined to bleed the government dry. Itreminds me of 19th-century physicians who thought blood-lettingwould cure ailments.
This means the Republican leadership strategy of straddling theline between the tea party and the public's demands will not work.Let's look at that strategy.
On budget cuts, it is time to state the obvious. The Republicansput higher taxes on the rich, cuts in defense, and, in essence, cutsin entitlements off the table. They are focusing their energy now oncutting what represents just 12 percent of the budget non-securitydomestic discretionary.
Many Democrats, including this one, believe the Republicans arenot serious about deficit reduction because if they were, they wouldput everything on the table - closing corporate loopholes, andending subsidies to special interests, defense and entitlementspending. President Barack Obama must do the same.
So why, you ask, is the GOP not willing to find common groundwith Obama and the Democrats? Because Republicans want to dictatewhere the cuts should come from and not look at the impact thatcould lead to hurting our economic recovery or throwing more peoplein the line for unemployment benefits.
Folks, let us face it. They aren't serious; they're just playingpolitical games with the economy. It's called the game of chickens!
This is no time to be playing strategy games. The time hasarrived for Boehner to decide to be a 24/7 campaigner or astatesman.
With Japan reeling economically from its triple disasters and theworld economy reflecting that impact on the global market, onlyserious statesmen will do.
It's time for the president to call the House speaker and theSenate majority leader over to fashion a serious compromise thathelps spur more economic growth that will bring in revenues and helpto reduce the federal deficit.
Politics aside, it's time to call on all our lawmakers to getserious about genuinely working together to pass the fiscal year2011 budget bill before the end of the month or their nextcongressional recess.
That means giving as well as taking.
The alternative is more legislative gridlock and the potentialfor a government shutdown, something Boehner says is irresponsible,while the tea party Republicans are almost giddy about thepossibility.
It's time for lawmakers to get back to the negotiating table andoffer a compromise that involves shared sacrifice from all.
Brazile is a political commentator on CNN, ABC and NPR, and acontributing columnist to Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill.
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