Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Who Wins Budget Battle? - the quick answer is no one. The difference in several billion of dollars and a battle over riders pertaining to abortion and the environment will hardly put a dent into the trillions in debt the nation owes nor resolve long standing differences in philosophy over certain social issues. The losers are the American people who are not receiving meaningful or effective representation in Congress.

As of late last night the difference between Republican and Democratic negotiators had narrowed to a range of 33.5-39.5 billion. No resolution had been reached on the Republican riders attached to the funding bill pertaining to abortion and the environment. The riders being more of the deal breaker than the money.

Meanwhile, the proposed Obama administration budget for FY'12, which begins October 1, 2011, contains 1.5 trillion in debt and the nation's debt ceiling will be reached within the next month. If Congress is unable to reach agreement on the budget for the remainder of the current fiscal year, and government is shut down, what are Americans to expect next?

Do you ever wonder who is behind the latest budget negotiations taking place? The Washington Post has a good read here on the right hand men behind House Speaker Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Reid.

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Rebel Win in Libya Doubtful - NATO officials are now acknowledging the rebels will be unable to overthrow the Gaddafi government with air support only - sound like a familiar refrain?

If a political solution is not arrived at, which results in the removal of Gaddafi, boots on the ground will be required if a long civil war is to be avoided.

Reuters.com has an update here.

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7.1 level Aftershock Hits Japan - and the pain keeps coming for the country still battling to recover from the 9.0 earthquake, subsequent tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster. 3.6 million were without power as a result of the huge aftershock. The NY Times has more here.

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