Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
keeps insisting that there won't be a government shutdown this fall and certainly not one over Planned Parenthood funding. That's led a lot of observers to wonder what planet McConnell is living on, since he's got at least two presidential candidates in his conference against him, along with most of the House Republicans. Enter Minority Leader Harry Reid and
every single Democratic senator, plus the two independents who have written to McConnell offering their assistance to avoid the shutdown. That is, provided he actually works with them. They're ready to start talking now, they write.
“With the existence of a clear and urgent deadline for action, we believe it would be unwise to wait until after the Congress returns from the August state work period—just 23 days before the end of the federal fiscal year—to begin talks on a path forward,” wrote the entire Democratic Conference in a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “We cannot afford to wait, only to let delay and inaction bring us to the brink of another totally predictable and completely preventable crisis.” […]
Democrats have insisted for months that they will not accept spending levels provided under current law, a situation that’s jammed up appropriations bills as they call for dollar-for-dollar increases in domestic and defense discretionary spending.
“Inaction and failure to responsibly restore sequester-level cuts in FY16 appropriations bills will have real consequences for our country. That is why we are eager to start working as soon as possible to negotiate a compromise that will keep our nation and economy strong, and keep the government open,” the 46 members of the Senate Democratic Conference—which includes two independents—said.
McConnell has said he's open to talks with Democrats, but hasn't provided a timeline. He might want to get on top of that kind of soonish, because there aren't really going to be 23 days for the Senate to figure this out before the end of the fiscal year. There are weekends and Jewish holidays that will cut that number of working days by nearly half.
So far, McConnell hasn't really proven that he has any time management skills when it comes to getting stuff done before deadlines, though it's a trick he keeps trying to exploit, like when he forced the Patriot Act to expire by refusing to allow an alternative on the floor before the law's expiration date. McConnell seems to think that he can force the rest of the Senate to his will by putting it continually in crisis, a calculation that just keeps failing him. He seems to be doing the same thing now, which puts the odds of a government shutdown happening pretty damned high.
