Remember when GOP lawmakers were called suicide bombers, arsonists, and kidnappers by a senior White House spokesman for raising the specter of a shutdown? Well, the shoe is on the other foot, but don’t expect any heated rhetoric from the WH. Rebecca Shabad reports in The Hill: Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on Wednesday warned Republicans that if they don’t reach another bipartisan deal to lift spending ceilings, they risk causing another government shutdown this fall. “So Republicans have a choice, and it’s the same choice they faced in 2013. They can either work with us early on a bipartisan budget deal that will set the topline budget levels and allow the Appropriations Committee to work on bills that can be signed into law,” Murray said Wednesday afternoon at a legislative seminar hosted by law firm Baker Hostetler. At a time when the President is committing more US troops to Iraq, Sen. Murray is making non-negotiable...(Read Full Post)