Fresh off their success this past week in crafting a budget proposal that got through the House of Representatives, Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) and his Democratic party partner, Senator Patty Ryan (D-Washington), took a victory lap of sorts on Sunday, appearing on NBC's Meet The Press with host David Gregory to talk about the wonders of bipartisanship and actually doing the people's business in Washington.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the bipartisanship brigade erupting in the contentious House: A number of Republican Senators, either up for re-election in 2014 or considering a White House run in 2016, say they'll oppose the measure.
Luckily for the rest of the country that doesn't want to deal with another government shutdown, the measure is still expected to get through the Senate this week. Democrats needs just five Republican votes for passage if all 53 Democrats and 2 independents back it as expected.
On CNN's State of the Union, Arizona's John McCain said he would be one of those apparently rare Republicans who will vote for the bill, telling Candy Crowley "I hope it will pass the Senate. We must not shut down the government again. We can't do that to the people of this country and my state."
Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and other Tea Party-alligned GOP Senators have expressed their unhappiness with the bill, but it's not just Tea Partiers who say they may not vote for it. Tennessee's Bob Corker and New Hampshire's Kelly Ayotte have also indicated that they're not happy with the measure breaking the spending caps that were part of the 2011 budget agreement.
Congressman Ryan has been hammered by Tea Party activists and some fellow congressional Republicans for negotiating the deal, unhappy that spending will now increase by about $45 billion more than what was already in place. There was no "grand bargain," meaning that nothing will happen in this deal with Social Security and Medicare.
Ryan has faced some criticism from the right that Republicans compromised too much, but "you don't get everything you want in a divided government," Ryan fired back on Sunday.
"Government has to function, and we saw the specter of two government shutdowns in 2014. ... I don't think that's good for anybody," he said.
Democrats certainly aren't pleased about everything in the deal. There is no extension to long-term unemployment benefits and no new taxes, for starters.
"What we're trying to here is bring some respect to the word compromise," Murray said. "If we just sit in the corners and yet at each other ... we'll never get to the big discussions."
