Me of little faith

I filed my column early Wednesday, and in it criticized the president
for gunning for a shutdown, and noted the vice president, once tapped to
lead high-level budget negotiations, had not returned to Capitol Hill.
Hours later, after deadline — behold, Vice President Biden headed up to
Capitol Hill last night, and suddenly a potential compromise of $33
billion in cuts is on the table. My column, published today, is now full of holes, but there are still points in there that hold true.
 
First, that Obama has not made the budget talks an urgent priority —
until now — and hasn’t personally engaged. Isn’t it strange that he said
he was committed to entitlement reform but has yet to even talk with
House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)? Second, that
while Republicans remain divided, and Tea Party pressure to insist on
the original sum of $62 billion in cuts is growing, they still made an
effort to keep the government functioning by drafting both temporary
spending measures passed since March 4 to keep the government operating —
more than we can say for the Democrats.
 
But I was wrong to assume that the administration truly intended to run out the clock, and news that broke since my deadline proved that. I take it back and hope both sides work hard to avert a shutdown. Even in partisan warfare the eleventh hour often yields cooperation, something I will remember in the next fight over the debt ceiling.
 

SHOULD BOEHNER PASS A BILL WITH DEMS TO AVOID A SHUTDOWN? Ask A.B. returns Tuesday, April 5. Please join my weekly video Q&A by sending your questions and comments to askab@digital-staging.thehill.com. Thank you.