House Republicans' Budget Fumble: Getting Worse Every Day

Speaker Ryan's "Year of Ideas" has gotten off to a rough start.  After repeatedly promising to coalesce the House GOP around another regressive budget blueprint, the Speaker has been forced to punt on introducing a budget.  Yet again, it's radical Republicans in charge of the House GOP – demanding even bigger cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and other vital initiatives for working people.  And yet again, a Republican Speaker is bending over backwards to meet those extremist demands.  From CNN:

House Republicans punt release of budget

House Republicans are punting plans to roll out their budget until next month, amid continued pushback from conservatives about the blueprint, according to multiple House Republican aides familiar with the discussions.

The divisions inside the House GOP conference threaten to derail the process, as Speaker Paul Ryan faces the same problem his predecessor encountered -- resistance from conservatives who want to lower the overall spending level and include some major cuts to entitlement programs in the near term…

House Democrats seized on the internal feud.

"This delay is yet another indication that the extreme Tea Party is in control of the Republican majority," Rep Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the Budget panel, said in a written statement on Monday.

Unfortunately for the Speaker, this budget mess won't be cleaned up anytime soon.  POLITICOreports that the Heritage Foundation – the same group that goaded Speaker Boehner into shutting down the government in 2013 – is about to inject some "ideas" of its own into the budget process, seizing control from Republican Leadership and handing the reins over to the most radical, out-of-touch voices in their Party:

Heritage complicates House GOP's plans to break budget impasse

The House Budget Committee has delayed consideration of a 2017 fiscal blueprint until March, as the panel's chairman and House leadership try to craft a resolution that passes the muster of conservatives.

Further complicating Speaker Paul Ryan's effort, the Heritage Foundation — the right's most influential think-tank — unveiled a budget blueprint that goes far, far beyond anything Ryan is proposing when it comes to slashing government spending.

The aggressive conservative wish list, provided to POLITICO, is likely to increase unrest in the Republican conference and boost hardliners' resistance to leadership's pitch of sticking to a spending deal made with President Barack Obama…

The Heritage Foundation and its advocacy arm, Heritage Action for America, have won outsized influence on the House Republican conference. Lawmakers are eager to score highly on Heritage Action's evaluation of their voting records; failing to do so could tempt conservative primary challengers…

Adopting some of Heritage's proposals would put Republicans in a tough spot politically. Federal aid for disaster relief, education and scientific and energy research would be chopped by hundreds of millions of dollars. In what would surely be a controversial move, Heritage would eliminate grants to curb domestic violence under the Violence Against Women Act. Amtrak would ultimately lose its federal subsidies, likely ending the railroad service. Head Start, the federal pre-K program for low-income children, would see a 10 percent funding cut per year until being phased out entirely in 2026…

But Heritage also goes much further, dramatically limiting Medicaid assistance and even touching the always politically sensitive Social Security…

It's a recipe that's sure to delight conservatives — and put Ryan in an even tighterspot.

In response to House Republicans' chaotic infighting over their draconian plans for the country, Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen said: "As Republicans argue among themselves about just how much they'd like to cut Social Security, Medicare, and other vital safety net programs, Democrats stand ready to actually get things done for working families."