Although it's infuriating that the $38 billion of obligational authority turned out to be only $352 million of 2011 spending, it's popular to claim that this was the best the Republicans could do under the circumstances. You can't know what's "best under the circumstances" unless you try and fail, and the Republicans could have simply refused to approve the temporary budget resoluation without more cuts.

Federal Money for Planned Parenthood CAN Lead to More Abortions

Clare Coleman, writing in the April 17 Washington Post Outlook section, defends Planned Parenthood against claims that since money is fungible, giving the organization federal money allows it to spend other money on abortions. Coleman says that such shifting is impossible by law. Title X, the federal money, exists only to provide contraceptives and sexual health care to the poor. And it is never enough to satisfy total demand, so Planned Parenthood has to find other money to support the Title X project—not using Title X money to fund abortions.

Coleman's argument makes clear that she doesn't understand the point about fungibility. Suppose Title X funding and private contributions allow Planned Parenthood to cover 50 percent of demand by the poor. If Title X funding were now to increase by $10 million, Planned Parenthood could decide to maintain total coverage at 50 percent and shift $10 million of the private contributions to cover abortions. Planned Parenthood might not choose to do so, but there would be no legal constraint against it.

In the United States at present, if a problem involves more than 2 people it's called a social problem—and if it's a social problem, it's a national problem—and if it's a national problem, it is a federal government problem. Individual responsibility and initiative are relics of the past.