A Sobering Week

Last week, I had the opportunity to talk to congressional leadership concerning the upcoming spending battles between Congress and the White House. Not only will the battle be waged over the $200 billion on Iraq, but also over the $23 billion additional domestic spending contained in appropriations bills.

President Bush has now issued veto threats on eight of the 12 spending bills. The House has passed all 12 fiscal year appropriations bills, but the Senate has only passed four.

As a new fiscal year begins today, the government is funded under a continuing resolution (CR) until around Nov. 16.

I predict some kind of massive negotiation in late October, or early November, regarding domestic programs. The question is to what extent will domestic spending be included above the Administration’s request.

I was absolutely stunned by the recent predictions by Democratic leaders that they will keep very little of the $23 billion in spending requests above the Administration’s plan. The President, with his veto pen and bully pulpit, is clearly in the driver’s seat. Democrats feel that they cannot win on this. Most feel they will lose at least two-thirds of the additional $23 billion.

It appears that the Senate is planning to send the individual appropriations bills to the President one at a time so the country can see the differences between the parties. I am glad that this is the case. Otherwise, we are facing a massive package in which our programs will be merely a speck.

Not only that, but I’m now sensing that if any extra money is available, it will be put toward four priorities: veterans’ health, education, homeland security and other health-related programs. That’s it! Therefore, a lot of things that Community Action is involved in will potentially be left behind.

Meanwhile, the backdrop of Iraq continues to overshadow everything – the money, the partisanship and the time. Iraq is taking up weeks and weeks of the congressional schedule, which limits Congress’ ability to focus on anything else.

How can we turn this around? We need increased communication from the Community Action network with members of Congress and the Administration. We all need to continue telling the story about how Community Action’s core funding is changing millions of lives at the local level.

While we cannot and will not give up, I came away from recent meetings convinced that the final chapter, if not written, is thought out clearly in the collective mind of Congress. I’ve been around long enough to realize that when key Democrats say, “We can’t win a battle with the White House,” they sincerely believe they cannot win the battle.

The Democratic message seems to be, “If you want to change it, we need a Democrat in the White House. It’s not our fault Bush is there.” This punts the responsibility down field another 16 months.

This week I have additional meetings with leadership. I will take the temperature then and see if there is any way Democrats will force the issue.

There are still a lot of unknowns out there. One thing is certain: we’re entering a very frustrating stretch for the next seven weeks.

-- David Bradley, NCAF Executive Director, Washington, D.C.