'World News' Political Insights: Parties Speak Past Each Other in Spending Fight

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2011— -- In the great spending battles of 2011, Republicans are betting big, while Democrats are betting small.

It's not just the different scope of budget cuts favored by the two parties that define their differences -- though it's worth noting that House GOP leaders are trying to cut $100 billion out of this year's budget before turning their attention to next year's even deeper cuts.

The way the parties are framing those cuts is what sets them apart -- in distinctions that will reverberate well into 2012.

Both parties face cross-pressures inside their own coalitions that will drive them further apart, zapping prospects for bipartisan cooperation on taxing and spending priorities. It all just might lead to a scenario where a government shutdown is possible.

To Republicans, the zeal to cut spending stems from the election results of last fall. They are calculating that voters will focus on the big numbers in their proposed cuts in judging the GOP against its campaign rhetoric, and hope that putting more on the table will draw praise from a public that dislikes government spending.

To Democrats, the fiscal and economic challenges are no less real, but the solutions could hardly be more different. Their hope is that the Republican push to cut spending will remind voters of the critical services government programs provide, and that cutting too deeply will make Republicans seem out of touch with a struggling electorate.

President Obama is positioning himself to take advantage of both strains. The budget proposal he's set to unveil Monday will trim government spending, and even take on some programs Democrats have traditionally help sacrosanct -- Pell grants, heating assistance for the poor, housing grants to cities and towns.