As I am writing this, the budget showdown between the Republican-controlled Congress and President Clinton is moving toward a shutdown of the Federal government on Tuesday, Nov. 14. For several weeks the media has placed the blame for this impending fiscal crisis on the GOP. The liberal editors of this paper are no exception. Yet, the President has been silent on the budget for most of the year.

With the President not providing any new viable ideas, the Republican Congress has forged ahead with a balanced budget that also addresses serious financial problems in Medicare. The President has provided nothing but criticism for the plan. In essence, since he has no alternative plan of his own, he has been reduced to defending the status quo.

The irony is that the President has endorsed most of what is in the bill. He supports:the concept of a balanced budget in seven years, the $500 tax credit per child, the capital gains tax cut, rewriting the welfare laws, and reducing the growth of Medicare and Medicaid. In other words, the President wants a watered-down version of the Republican plan. If Clinton dislikes the GOP budget so much, he should have been more vocal during the year when the bills were being drafted. By waiting until the end of the year, his only asset is the veto pen. The only thing that he can do now is to receive more funding for a few pet programs. He will be unable to alter the theme of this dramatic legislation.

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While it is unfortunate that the government might default for the first time in history, the President could have helped to shape the legislation over the past few months so that a compromise could have been reached a long time ago. We live in historic times, but unfortunately for the President, his veto pen will receive a mere mention in the history books. Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole will go down in history as being bold enough to change the status quo, even as the voters threaten to punish them for doing the right thing.