The difference between the House GOP budget resolution and what the Democrats want is about $2 billion. That's about what those guys on the Hill spend in about 15 minutes. And we're going to have a government shutdown over this?

Madness!

It is not clear how the dispute will be resolved. A spokesman for House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said Sunday that leaders have been in touch, but other congressional aides said there was no progress toward a compromise over the weekend.

And members of Congress who appeared on Sunday talk shows gave little sign that they would move quickly from their parties' positions on disaster relief.

"The Senate is saying .тАЙ.тАЙ. why should we, in effect, rebuild schools in Iraq on the credit card but expect that rebuilding schools in Joplin, Missouri, at this moment in time have to be paid for in a way that has never been in any of the previous disaster assistance that we've put out before?" Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) said on CNN's "State of the Union." He blamed the dispute on tea-party-affiliated Republicans in the House who demanded the spending cut.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said on the same program: "Everybody knows we're going to pay for every single penny of disaster aid that the president declares and that FEMA certifies. And the House sent over a bill that does that and the Senate should have approved it."

Harry Reid is a humbug. Since this is a family oriented website, that's about the strongest language I can use. He is holding the government hostage fore purely political reasons; showing just how mean those Republicans truly are by denying disaster relief to people who desperately need it.

But the GOP is doing no such thing, of course. They have funded every dollar  requested by FEMA. The sticking point is cutting a paltry $2 billion from a $3.7 trillion budget.

And that's the bottom line.