White House And Congressional Leaders Make Budget Deal

Congressional Republicans And President Obama Agree On Budget Deal. Congressional Republicans and President Obama announced the details of a budget deal on October 26:

Shortly before midnight, House Republicans posted the text of the 144-page bill, which was labeled a “discussion draft” but appeared to reflect the tentative agreement as described by congressional aides throughout the day.

The agreement would raise spending by $80 billion over two years, not including a $32 billion increase included in an emergency war fund. Those increases would be offset by cuts in spending on Medicare and Social Security disability benefits, as well as savings or revenue from an array of other programs, including selling oil from the nation's strategic petroleum reserves. The Medicare savings would come from cuts in payments to doctors and other health care providers. [New York Times, 10/27/15]

Conservatives Attack Deal As “Surrender” And “Sellout”

Laura Ingraham Calls Deal “Big Republican Sellout Of Conservative Principles.” Syndicated radio host Laura Ingraham attacked the budget deal on her show:

LAURA INGRAHAM: Anytime I hear, 'deal struck behind closed doors, still secret, bipartisan support,' I reach for my pocketbook. My mother used to call it a pocketbook, 'reach for your pocketbook,' do they still call it those, or is it all purses? Welcome to the Republican crackup my friends ... The big Republican sellout of conservative principles begins. And these are the same people by the way who argue that people like Trump and Carson aren't real conservatives. [Courtside Entertainment Group, The Laura Ingraham Show, 10/27/15]

Washington Examiner: “This Budget Deal Is What GOP Surrender Looks Like.” Washington Examiner Managing Editor Philip Klein wrote in an article headlined “This budget deal is what GOP surrender looks like”:

Republican leaders have agreed to unravel progress they made in hard fought budget battles to pump more money into government in the short-term in exchange for modest reforms, many of which can and likely will be easily undone by future Congresses. After spending much of their time in the minority in 2009 and 2010 poking holes in Obama's budget gimmickry, they have dug deep into a Mary Poppins-like bag of gimmicks and thrown them all into this deal. [Washington Examiner, 10/27/15]

Fox's Erickson: Boehner “Handed Barack Obama A Sweetheart Deal That Undercuts The Republicans.” Fox News contributor Erick Erickson wrote:

Donald Trump wrote The Art of the Deal. He literally wrote the best selling book on cutting business deals. And John Boehner just handed Barack Obama a sweetheart deal that undercuts the Republicans.

Republicans in the House and Senate are already complaining that John Boehner and, to a lesser extent, Mitch McConnell have betrayed them and given the Democrats much of what they wanted.

[...]

The Republican base is already livid with John Boehner and Boehner just handed Donald Trump a perfect opportunity to show how much better at negotiating he is than the rest of the Republicans. [ErickOnTheRadio.com, 10/27/15]

Breitbart.com's Boyle: “Permanent Political Class Cooks Up Giant Backroom Big Government Budget.” In a piece titled “Paul Ryan Silent As Permanent Political Class Cooks Up Giant Backroom Big Government Budget, Debt Ceiling Deal,” Breibart.com's Matthew Boyle wrote:

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is silent and offering no opinion on legislation currently being crafted in Washington, D.C., back rooms that would raise the debt ceiling and bind Congress to a multi-year budget deal.

Ryan, who is likely to become the next Speaker of the House, is boldly not taking any position on the forthcoming legislative package -- a daring move for someone who is trying to win a House Speakership election. [Breitbart.com, 10/26/15]

Breitbart.com's Shapiro: Obama Got “A Pony” In Budget Deal. Breitbart.com Senior Editor-At Large Ben Shapiro wrote:

On Tuesday, Congressional Republicans and President Obama triumphantly announced a two-year budget deal that will take Congress beyond the 2016 presidential election without the possibility of another government shutdown.

Republicans received higher-than-sequestration-level funding for defense; President Obama got everything else, including funding for Planned Parenthood, entitlement programs, and a pony. [Breitbart.com, 10/27/15]