Shutdown Countdown: Make My Day

The White House is cutting off the Republican plan for September and October here in April, and it shows an uncharacteristically frank and realistic assessment of what the White House thinks the GOP will do in order to win in November:  shut the government down and blame the President for the misery.

In a major escalation of a slowly building fight over funding the government, the White House has warned House Republicans, in no uncertain terms, that the government will shut down in September if the GOP does not adhere to an agreement they cut with Democrats in August during the standoff over raising the nation’s debt limit.

“Until the House of Representatives indicates that it will abide by last summer’s agreement, the President will not be able to sign any appropriations bills,” writes Jeffrey Zients, acting director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, in a letter addressed to congressional appropriators Wednesday.

The message is simple: The government will shut down just ahead of the 2012 presidential election if Republicans break faith with the debt limit deal. 

In other words, the White House is firing the first major public shot in this fall's Shutdown Countdown wars, which the GOP assures will come.  They've called the GOP's bluff.  Now of course, the GOP will have to prove they aren't bluffing, breaking their deal and shutting thegovernment down six weeks before the election.

Good luck with that plan, GOP.