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 In a pair of televised interviews, House of Representatives Budget
Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said the deal he struck with Democratic
Senator Patty Murray could also bring progress on tax reform, but
there was little chance of a "grand deficit reduction bargain" as
long as the Senate and White House were controlled by Democrats.
"We need to win a couple of elections. This, I believe, helps us
better do that," Ryan of Wisconsin, who was the 2012 Republican vice
presidential nominee, told "Fox News Sunday."
"It allows us to focus on laying out our conservative vision in
2014. We're going to have to win the Senate and we're going to have
to win the White House to truly fix this country's fiscal problems,"
he said.
But the deal that easily cleared the House last week still was short
of votes to pass the Senate because of Republican opposition,
assistant Senate Democratic leader Dick Durbin said on Sunday.
"The struggle is still on in the United States Senate. We will need
about eight Republicans to come our way. I feel we'll have a good
strong showing from the Democratic side, but we need bipartisan
support to pass it," Durbin, of Illinois, said on the CBS "Face the
Nation" program.
The Senate is set to vote on the measure in coming days before
Congress heads out for a holiday recess.
Ryan described the deal in terms to appeal to voters fed up with
gridlock and bickering in Congress, saying it would reduce the
federal deficit without raising taxes, put the economy on a firmer
foundation and get Congress back to its job of paying bills and
setting spending priorities.
"We're not saying this is a massive agreement. It just gets
government working," he told NBC's "Meet the Press," where he
appeared with Murray, of Washington.
But a number of conservative Republicans have criticized the deal
for putting off major spending cuts and avoiding most tough issues,
such as controlling spending on programs for the elderly.
Democrats also said they didn't get all they wanted, but the deal
could address issues important to their party's constituents.
"A budget agreement really is about how we can manage this country's
resources so we can have the things I do care passionately about,
whether it's education or healthcare or transportation
infrastructure," Murray said.
THREATS OF SHUTDOWNS
The deal, which passed the House 332-94 on Thursday, sets spending
levels for two years and breaks the recent pattern of short-term
funding bills that have required frequent renewal under the threat
of government shutdowns like the 16-day closure in October.
Voters nationally blamed October's shutdown on Republicans,
particularly those backed by the small-government Tea Party
movement. Republicans went on to lose elections in Virginia and
Alabama as their poll numbers plunged.
Ryan said the deal would help in upcoming contests by allowing
Republicans to concentrate on the administration's botched rollout
of the "Obamacare" healthcare law, President Barack Obama's
signature domestic policy achievement.
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"For the economy, no shutdowns. We also don't want to have shutdown
drama so that we can focus on replacing Obamacare, so that we can
focus on showing better ideas than what this is coming in. Because
we don't think people like this law," Ryan said on NBC.
But the deal, which passed with support from most House Republicans,
is facing Republican resistance in the Senate.
"It's a tough vote for them because of this Tea Party threat,"
Durbin said on CBS, noting several Republican senators are
considering presidential runs and others are facing primary
challenges from Tea Party-backed candidates.
He said that in addition to Arizona Republican Senator John McCain,
who has said he will support the measure, "We have a handful (of
Republicans), but we need more. Some are still thinking about it."
While Ryan portrayed the budget deal as a Republican asset, it
caused a bitter ideological feud within the party to boil over in
public as conservative groups including FreedomWorks, Heritage
Action and Club for Growth sought to undermine the agreement,
prompting House Speaker John Boehner to accuse them of "misleading
their followers."
Ryan told NBC that Boehner "just kind of got his Irish up" because
the groups voiced their opposition publicly before an agreement was
reached.
"These are very important elements of our conservative family. I
would prefer to keep those conversations within the family," Ryan
said.
Another test of Republican unity could be next year's deadline for
raising the federal debt ceiling.
Conservatives, particularly those backed by the Tea Party, have
routinely opposed debt ceiling increases and twice brought the
government to the brink of default that could have had devastating
economic effects. Further brinkmanship could create new drama in
2014, and widen a rift between the party's small-government wing and
its pro-businesses advocates.
"We as a caucus, along with our Senate counterparts, are going to
meet and discuss what it is we want to get out of the debt limit. We
don't want nothing out of this debt limit. We're going to decide
what it is we can accomplish out of this debt limit fight," Ryan
said on Fox.
(Additional reporting by Vicki Allen; editing by Vicki Allen)
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