Far be it for me to criticize someone else for a typo — I’ve been known to make a few of my own — but if I were responsible for writing multi-billion dollar federal budgets, I’d probably be a little more careful than Republicans on the Hill have been.
A typo in the budget-reconciliation bill may give congressional Democrats another shot at making political hay out of the $39 billion deficit-reduction measure President Bush signed yesterday.
Democratic leaders could block an attempt by Republicans to correct the clerical error and use the fight to highlight their fierce opposition to the legislation, which includes spending reductions in healthcare, education and other programs.
By doing so, Democrats would raise from the dead a yearlong fight against the budget cuts at the same time that they prepare to beat back another package of spending reductions called for in the president’s new budget.
Blocking a technical correction to legislation that has already been signed into law would be unusual, but budget battles on Capitol Hill are always partisan and House Democrats believe they have scored political points on fighting the GOP budget cuts.
In the story of a how a bill becomes a law, the House and Senate have to pass the exact same bill, which the president then signs. In this case, Congress sent the White House a slightly different piece of legislation. (The problem is over a Medicare provision that pays rent on medical equipment before private companies transfer ownership — Congress’ bill says ownership is transferred after 36 months; the bill Bush signed says 13 months. It may seem minor, but any difference in the bills means Congress has to fix the problem.)
At this point, there are two things to consider. One, Dems could take advantage of the screw-up and restart a debate over the bill. If they don’t, they’ll be missing a good opportunity to remind voters about deep and unpopular spending cuts, unnecessary tax cuts, and a “deficit-reduction” package that actually raises the deficit. All it takes is a Dem objection to a unanimous consent order.
And two, a key election message for the Dems is that the Republicans are incompetent when it comes to governing. Doesn’t this seem like a pretty amusing example of the GOP making the Dems’ argument for them?