The grim-gridlock reality of the United States' current budget crisis is unavoidable. The Democrats are committed to the growth of government because they believe that government is the answer to the nation's ills. They also insist, even in the face of imminent bankruptcy, that it is the government's responsibility to take care of its citizens, to provide for their needs, and to make all arrangements for their comfort. The Republicans, at least in word, refute these positions, demanding smaller government, fiscal responsibility, and individual freedom.
The Republicans can and must take control this debate. For too long the Republicans have been "Democrat-lite", cutting bits of spending here and there, while allowing big-ticket items like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to grow with abandon. On March 31, members of the TEA Party caucus, headed by rising star Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota), are demanding an end to Republican dithering. The Republican Party returned to power in the House of Representatives for the most part because of the TEA Party populist surge. On the steps of the capitol, they rallied, "Cut it or shut it!": cut the budget, or let the government shut down without one. House Speaker John Boehner would do well to heed the demands of this very vocal block of the party.
Republicans and Democrats will never see eye-to-eye on balancing the budget, the Republicans will just have to call the President's bluff and let the government "shut down" without a budget.
In reality, if the United States goes without a budget, the government will not literally "shut down". The military will still stand guard, social security checks (gasp!) will still be issued, and when a budget is finally passed, federal employees will be compensated retroactively. In effect, the vast number of frivolous pork projects and entitlement spending will go unfunded, the expressed intent of the fiscal hawks taking back their runaway, spendthrift government. If nothing else, the American People will see once again that they can live, breathe, and have their being without a fully-funded federal government wasting tax-payer to the tune of $4 billion dollars a day.
If the United States Congress, committed with promoting the General Welfare of this country, will not face facts and make the necessary drastic cuts, then they have no right to represent us, and that includes the newly empowered Republicans. This current Congress must slash the bloated budget in earnest. If they cannot achieve that, then the government should shut its doors.
Congressmen, enough with the penny-ante sparring over billions of dollars. There are trillions of dollars in unfunded domestic spending threatening the economic future of this country. Do your job, cut the budget, or shut your doors once and for all.
In other words: Cut it, or SHUT IT!