PAUL TELLER: Republicans Shouldn’t Shy Away From A Spending Fight.

Clearly, the congressional appropriations process is broken, as it has been for at least two decades, where the options are most commonly take-it-or-leave-it, as a government shutdown looms large. As most political observers might predict, Congress will likely do little work on appropriations between now and December.

The excuse in October and early November will be election campaigning, and the excuses for the rest of November will be leadership elections, new Member orientation, fun receptions and, of course, the one-day Thanksgiving holiday stretched into a ten-day vacation.

Then December will suddenly be upon Congress, when Members and staff will likely throw up their hands and claim that there is no time left for anything except an omnibus, so they can “clear the decks” for whomever the next president and congressional leaders will be.

This pattern, while predictable, is not unavoidable. Congress should do all it can now to avoid pushing up against the foolish Dec. 20th deadline.

I’d much rather see the GOP put up a real fight and lose than just roll over again. Sadly, too many GOP congresscritters act as though their real constituents are inside the Beltway.