BUT SEAN HANNITY TOLD US THE GOP WON THE BUDGET BATTLE

He also said Pres. Obama was to blame for the S&P downgrade, not the House Baggers.

GOP fears shutdown showdown
By JAKE SHERMAN and MANU RAJU | 7/17/12 7:51 PM EDT
POLITICO

Top congressional Republicans are plotting ways to avoid a government shutdown fight when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30, believing the partisan brinkmanship that defined last year’s budget battles would be devastating to their party heading into the November elections.

And in a sign that the politics of the upcoming round of spending are shifting, GOP leaders now have a key ally on their side: Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), the tea party leader who has been a frequent critic of his party’s budget dealings.

“I believe unless the Republicans in the House send us a [continuing resolution] that goes past the lame duck at the budget control levels, then we got a problem with leadership in the House,” DeMint told POLITICO. “In September, we’ve got three weeks before the government shuts down. And I’m tired being up here and they put our backs against the wall or the government will shut down. Republicans need to make clear that we don’t want anything to do with a government shutdown. We are going to fund the government at the Budget Control Act levels, even though I think they’re too high.”