The headline on the right-wing CNS News blares, “Abortion, Environmental Regulation are Priorities for Obama in Seeking Budget Compromise.” Not quite. So what did the president say yesterday in his press conference about the budget standoff?
As I said, there can be some negotiations about composition. What we can’t be doing is using last year’s budget process to have arguments about abortion; to have arguments about the Environmental Protection Agency; to try to use this budget negotiation as a vehicle for every ideological or political difference between the two parties. That’s what the legislature is for, is to have those arguments, but not stuff it all into one budget bill.
Really, the only certainty apparent in the statement is that Obama doesn’t want to have these debates now, which is not the same as guaranteeing that he won’t sign a budget that defunds Planned Parenthood and all of the clinics covered under Title X.
Behind the scenes may look different, as Politico reported last week that House Majority Leader John Boehner “has told White House officials that his caucus won’t agree to strip out the provisions — which are red meat for the party’s conservative base — while Obama aides are equally adamant about removing the riders.” In addition to the Pence amendment, contested riders include defunding NPR and environmental protection programs.