Politico’s Budoff Brown: It’s OK House Bill Failed Because That’s What Dems Wanted

October 16th, 2013 4:50 PM

It’s no secret that the liberal media sympathize with the Democrats’ position on the current government shutdown (and on most policy matters, really). Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown underscored that point on Tuesday’s PBS NewsHour when she spun the failure of a House bill as a net positive because it was what Democrats were hoping for.

Brown was making a guest appearance on the NewsHour to report on the latest developments in negotiations to end the shutdown. She announced that the latest House GOP bill was collapsing due to a lack of support in that chamber. Brown then gave her two cents on the matter: [See video below the break.]


"And while that could be taken as a negative or a setback of sorts, it’s really not. Democrats in the White House and the Senate were banking on the House falling short, hoping that that clears the way now for the Reid-McConnell deal that was coming together last night."
 

Oh, so there’s no need to worry that the House Republican bill failed, because it’s what Democrats were hoping for. Anything that advances Democratic interests can’t be a setback; it can only be a step forward. It would be one thing if Brown had argued that the House bill’s failure was good for the country, but she framed it in terms of what was good for the Democrats in Congress.

Senate leaders did, in fact, agree to a deal this afternoon to end the shutdown and avoid a default. Now they, along with the liberal media establishment, will try to pressure the GOP-controlled House into accepting the deal. Media members like Budoff Brown don’t seem to care about conservative Republican interests. They regard Tea Party members who want to rein in spending and repeal ObamaCare as crazies, but they see free-spending, intrusive government-growing Democrats as the normal ones who have America’s best interests at heart.

The media expects Democrats to lead and Republicans to follow. It’s the best way to turn America into the liberal paradise they desire.

Below is a brief transcript of the segment:

JUDY WOODRUFF: For the latest on where things stand we're joined from Capitol Hill by Carrie Budoff Brown of Politico. Carrie, this story is changing as we speak. What is the latest?

CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN: The latest is that the House bill appears to be falling apart. The rules committee was supposed to be meeting at this hour. They’ve delayed it indefinitely, which means that the support is not there in the House. And while that could be taken as a negative or a setback of sorts, it’s really not. Democrats in the White House and the Senate were banking on the House falling short, hoping that that clears the way now for the Reid-McConnell deal that was coming together last night, that gave a lot of people hope that that will now be able to move forward. We don't know if that's exactly what is going to happen right now, but that's what Democrats in Washington have been waiting around all day for, hoping that the House, that Speaker Boehner could not pull out this bill, pull out the votes for this bill, and they’ll just have to go back to where they were essentially 24 hours ago.