We're winning the budget battle with short-term resolutions

There’s every reason to believe the incremental strategy would continue to succeed. Democrats are flummoxed by it. They’d like to block more cuts, but they’ve been unable to explain why spending reductions of a few billion dollars at a clip are unacceptable. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tried, only to embarrass himself by saying Nevada’s cowboy poetry festival might be jeopardized. Mr. Obama has prudently declined to wade in…

This is all the more reason for the GOP not to provoke a government shutdown. Yet dissatisfied Republicans are willing to risk one by opposing further short-term extensions of spending. Fifty-four House Republicans voted against the three-week extension passed on March 15. “Nobody wants a government shutdown, but unless we take a stand, we will shut down the future of our children and grandchildren,” Mr. Pence said…

A good chunk of the conservative movement is egging Republicans on. The House speaker has been accused of playing a weak hand. “I think John Boehner has basically climbed into the Bob Dole suit,” columnist Mark Steyn told talk radio host Hugh Hewitt. “Arguing over itsy-bitsy, half a billion here and half a billion there . . . is preposterous.”

But it may not be if it’s the most you can get under current circumstances. What’s unsatisfying to many conservatives is most likely the best Republicans can achieve in 2011.