Cutting Down to the Sweet Juicy Fat

Fred Barnes says the Republicans are winning the budget battle, and David Dayen at Firedoglake seems to agree — but I’m not so certain. Here’s Dayen:

You could make a case that the first $10 billion didn’t have a huge impact, as they went to programs already scheduled to be cut (I don’t totally subscribe to that). But the low-hanging fruit is gone. This $20 billion will hurt.

We’re talking about $20 billion dollars here, or one-half of one percent of a budget that has grown by 25% in the last two years. We’re talking about ditching one fiftieth of the recent increases.

If that’s “hurt,” then we’re not going to make a whole lot of progress until after the 2012 elections — and that’s only if the GOP somehow manages to put up a candidate less unpalatable to the center than Obama is.

My hopes aren’t up this morning.