Washington, D.C. – Congressman Rick Berg issued the following statement in response to Senator Chuck Schumer and former governor Howard Dean’s efforts to push Senate Democrats to shutdown the government:

“North Dakotans have made it clear that they want Washington to stop the political games, listen to the American people, and make real changes to get our country back on track,” Congressman Berg stated.  “Our federal budget situation is out of control, yet Washington continues to rack up record deficits and debt that will be passed along to our children.  Like families and small businesses across the country, government must prioritize spending and Washington must learn to live within our means to balance the budget and put our nation back on track.  It’s time for the Senate Democrats to stop playing political games and join us in passing a long-term budget measure.”

Yesterday on a conference call with Senate Democrat leadership, Senator Schumer urged his Democrat colleagues to try and paint any government spending cuts as “extreme.”  

“After thanking his colleagues…for doing the budget bidding for the Senate Democrats, who are facing off against the House Republicans over how to cut spending for the rest of the fiscal year, Mr. Schumer told them… to decry the spending cuts that he wants as extreme. ‘I always use the word extreme,’ Mr. Schumer said. ‘That is what the caucus instructed me to use this week.’” (Jennifer Steinhauer, “On a Senate Call, a Glimpse of Marching Orders,” New York Times, 03/29/2011)

This followed just hours after former governor Howard Dean said Democrats should be rooting for a shutdown:

“Howard Dean, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, sees an upside to a looming government shutdown – at least politically. ‘If I was head of DNC, I would be quietly rooting for it,’ said Dean, speaking on a National Journal Insider’s Conference panel Tuesday morning. ‘I know who’s going to get blamed – we’ve been down this road before.’” (Alex Roarty, “Howard Dean: Democrats Should Be 'Quietly Rooting' for Shutdown,” National Journal, 03/29/2011)

In the meantime, more Democrats have privately claimed that their party will benefit from a shutdown.

“If Democrats want to avoid a government shutdown, they have a funny way of showing it…More Democrats acknowledge privately they believe that they win either way — Republican leaders cut a deal or take the heat for a shutdown.” (Jonathan Allen and Meredith Shiner, “Republicans Seize On Democrats' Shutdown Talk,” Politico, 3/30/2011)

After the last Congress failed to pass a budget, House Republicans passed a long-term budget measure to reduce current spending levels by more than $60 billion—a $100 billion reduction from President Obama’s proposed budget.  After stalling for three weeks, the Senate rejected both the House’s budget measure that would cut current spending levels by $60 billion over seven-months and Senate Democrats’ own measure that would cut current spending levels by just $4.7 billion over seven-months.

It’s been forty days since the House passed a plan to fund government through the remainder of FY 2011, and Senate Democrats continue to focus their efforts on encouraging a government shutdown, rather than working to pass a bill to do the same.

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