What does a Democratic Campaign Congressional Committee (DCCC) recruitment effort toward House Minority Leader Sal "The Fist" Pace and Senator Gail Schwartz have to do with Pace's dissing of a bipartisan budget deal yesterday? Everything.

As we reported yesterday, a bipartisan budget has been hammered out by Republicans and Democrats in both chambers. This compromise did not come about easily or quickly, with both sides having to give up much of what they wanted in order to pass a budget. It now has the necessary votes and is all but a done deal.

But that didn't stop House Minority Leader Sal Pace from trying to score a few cheap political points off of it. 

Sal Pace released a statement yesterday saying:  

"While I don't believe this is a perfect budget, it puts something on the table that we can debate publicly and in good faith. House Democrats have serious concerns about a budget that reinstates handouts and tax credits for special interests, including for software and Walmart, at the expense of K-12 education and our kids."

Rumors are swirling that the DCCC was in town prodding both Schwartz and Pace into the race against freshman Congressman Scott Tipton, and the two have been quietly angling against one another for the shot. 

Pace's attack on the budget deal will have no effect on the passage of the legislation. His populist diatribe, straight out of the AFL-CIO playbook, is political grandstanding, plain and simple, for the purpose of furthering his own chances in a Congressional primary. With Schwartz's Senate leader on board, Pace carved a different path.

This of course leaves Senate President Brandon Shaffer in a horrible predicament, as the opposition to his budget settlement is lead by his Democrat counterpart in the House, who is looking to score points off of a fellow Democrat. All those "corporate give-a-ways" that Pace is railing against? Shaffer is complicit with them. 

We at The Peak love it when Democrats shoot at each other. We like it even more when they hit the target.