The 11th hour has arrived

The 11th hour has arrived – will it move the budget debate?

One more time, the Speaker of the House John Boehner said Republicans have done their job, it’s up to Democrats. “The President hasn’t offered a plan. Senate Democrats haven’t passed a plan. It’s time for them to pass a plan.”

So I talked to a top Senate Democrat, Patty Murray, who chairs the budget committee, and asked why won’t she agree to trim Social Security and Medicare spending as Republicans demand.

“Let me just be very clear,” said Murray on Seattle’s Morning News. “I made some very serious offers on those kinds of changes to public policies that will bring us savings in the long run. As budget chair today – I’m in deep discussions with my committee about how we can impact the cost of healthcare overall, moving forward. It’s one of the biggest drivers in our budget. But, we have to have a partner on the other side.”

They’re saying they’ve dug in. I asked, do you think you can really get them to move?

“Without the revenue piece on this, average, middle-class families bear the brunt of the entire deficit because we went to war without paying for it and we passed big tax cuts in the early part of the decade,” said Murray.

But she’s made the point. We know where each side stands. Republicans are just willing to be a little more ruthless than the Democrats. I asked, at some point, don’t you just have to say, ‘Alright, we’re going to try it your way just to get this thing off the dime’? And if it turns out you’re wrong, you will lose at the polls next time around.

“This is going into place because they hold the card of – by doing nothing – they get all their cuts.”