I’m listening to Mitch McConnell savage the omnibus bill on the Senate floor right now, and given all the high dudgeon, you’d think the spending package was toast. But it’s not — at least not yet.
So as the Senate tip toes toward a (potential) government shutdown, keep a few incentives in mind. If Democrats can fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, they’ll delay the Republicans’ hold on the pursestrings in 2011 for months. And if Republicans let this pass, propelled by the votes of the few remaining proud GOP earmarkers, they get a political twofer: a cudgel to wield against Democrats for passing another trillion dollar monstrosity, and a bunch of pork projects that they requested months ago but are now railing against.
Publicly, McConnell and most Republicans are pushing a short-term spending measure to fund the government until February. But I wouldn’t count the omnibus out yet.
