What It's Really About

This is what happens when ideology -- religious ideology -- trumps reason and fact:

Officials said that Democrats had made concessions on both money and policy, and had moved toward the position of House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio on the overall level of spending, agreeing to $37 billion in cuts, with less of it coming from the Pentagon than Democrats had initially sought.

Democratic officials familiar with the negotiations said that proposed restrictions on money for Planned Parenthood remained the chief sticking point, and that attempts to resolve the disagreement through alternatives like allowing a separate floor vote on the issue had not been successful. Democrats said they were told by the Republicans that the votes of anti-abortion social conservatives would be needed to move any budget measure through the House.

So, teabaggRs are willing to shut down the government to advance a purely social agenda. Not fiscal. Social. Moreover, Planned Parenthood is about far more than abortion; it's a major source of health care for women in need of it. Abortion not only doesn't make for the bulk of its work, no federal money goes to abortion services it provides. (Okay, I agree that sort of argument is silly, no matter who makes it: you give me ten bucks and tell me not to spend it on candy, I can hand the guy at 7-11 a different sawbuck. But everyone rolls that way, right? Federal money to religious schools, e.g.)

As I said earlier today, Ds -- because it's who they are -- have already moved very far to the right on this. Too far, since it's all symbolism anyway: the real money is elsewhere. And until there's agreement that we need to increase revenues as well as making reasonable cuts, we're still headed toward slow ruination. But I'm betting they, the Ds, will move even further, eventually crossing even this, this mean-spirited (because it's religious-based and fact-averse) and very hurtful line in the sand.