Senate Democrats Draw A Line In The Sand After Taking A "Butter Knife To The Budget"

Yesterday, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin effectively ruled out any further cuts in FY2011 spending and latched on to the Obama Administration’s unserious spending plan.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin On Further Budget Cuts: “It Can’t Be Done.” WALLACE: “Are you willing to accept more cuts in discretionary spending, sir?” DURBIN: “It can't be done. To go any further is to push more kids out of school, to stifle the innovation which small businesses and large alike need to create more jobs.” (Fox’s “Fox News Sunday,” 3/6/11)

Sen. Durbin’s Comments Represented A “Line In The Sand” That Democrats Would Oppose Going Beyond Their Current Position. “Assistant Senate Democratic leader Dick Durbin drew a line in the sand on Sunday in his party's budget battle with Republicans, who are pushing deep spending cuts to trim the federal deficit. Durbin, one of President Barack Obama's top allies in Congress, said he opposed going beyond the $10.5 billion in domestic, non-defense discretionary spending cuts that Democrats have backed.” (Thomas Ferraro, “Top Democrat Draws Line In Sand In Budget Fight,” Reuters, 3/6/11)

Of course, not everyone is convinced that the Democrats’ status quo budget is sufficient to address our country’s long-term deficits. On Friday evening, CBS’s Chip Reid claimed that Democrats were merely taking a “butter knife to the budget” and cutting “little more than soft edges.”