Madigan and Cullerton say those are "non-budget issues" that shouldn't be used as leverage in budget talks.
Republicans would like a shorter debt limit extension in order to maintain leverage in budget negotiations.
That provided them with some leverage on budget negotiations – a stupid sort of leverage, which they now wisely seem to have abandoned as an option.
Mr. Bloomberg, like Rudolph W. Giuliani and other mayors before him, include these cuts as bargaining chips to provide leverage during budget negotiations.
But the effort is more than symbolic: in particular it could give House Republicans increased leverage in budget negotiations with the White House this winter and spring, when the administration must get Congress to raise the federal debt limit or risk a government financing crisis.
And yet the incentives for governments and officials to ignore strict value-for-money principles remain – most of the PFI debt still doesn't appear in the official debt or deficit figures and departments can leverage their budgets by putting spending on the never-never.
It should act as collateral now for the balance of payments facility, but also in the future for the greater use of innovative financial instruments leveraging European budgets.
Reports suggest that some House Republicans may push to let the tax lapse or use the threat of expiration as leverage in the budget wars.
Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, is at the forefront of the movement to use the debt ceiling as political leverage to gain budget concessions.
He said it was in Mr. Obama's interest to keep the issue alive both to align Republicans with the unpopular oil companies and to use as leverage as new budget negotiations begin.
