House Republicans have generally been able to run all over their adversaries from the other side of the aisle while Senate Republicans have a much more difficult time with the filibuster-wielding Senate Democratic Caucus. On the budget, however, it increasingly appears that the Republicans could have more difficulty in the House than in the Senate. Bob Cusack has the story for The Hill:

Before Rep. Mike Pence asked his conservative colleagues to signal whether they were ready to defy House Republican leaders by voting against the budget, he warned them.

Pence (R-Ind.), seeking an accurate whip count, told members of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) last week that GOP leaders would apply significant pressure to back the budget and were likely to dangle enticing legislative promises in exchange for a yes vote.

Then Pence asked RSC members for a show of hands. Eighteen members, including freshman Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), signaled that they are committed to voting against the House budget plan if it does not include spending reforms.

Based on the budget votes in 2003 and 2004, 18 defectors would kill the spending blueprint crafted by House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-Iowa).

The 18-member count could be especially troubling for House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) because some RSC lawmakers did not attend last Wednesday’s meeting. And while certain members of the centrist Tuesday Group were present during the RSC strategy session, many were not. It is estimated that the number of members in the Tuesday Group and the RSC who are against the budget is in the mid-20s. The two groups, which have formed an alliance, represent about 120 lawmakers.

While the coalition of conservative and moderate Republicans in the House must be applauded for attempting to take on their leadership on the budget, without actually instituting PAYGO rules, such a move will be meaningless.

The fact is that the Republicans want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to be able to institute major cuts in key social programs like Medicaid and Veterans services (yes, cutting medical care to veterans... which party backs the military?) under the auspices of "balancing the budget," but they also want to raid the treasury by introducing and extending regressive tax cuts that wholly or mostly benefit the wealthy. If they actually cared about balancing the budget, they would be willing to include tax cuts in their strict budget rules.

The Democrats should line up with this coalition of GOP defectors to block the Budget bill so it will be more difficult for the Republicans to introduce further tax cuts. Victory could come for the Democrats on the Budget, but surprisingly, it might occur in the House rather than in the Senate.