WASHINGTON -- If there's one clear example of how the ongoing civil war between the GOP's hard-right conservatives and the party's more pragmatic, centrist wing is impacting how Congress functions, look no further than its budget resolution.
On the surface, such measures don’t really matter. They don’t have the force of law and are particularly moot this year because party leaders already agreed in 2015 on how much money they want the federal government to spend for the budget cycle that begins Oct 1.
But on Capitol Hill such spending blueprints say a great deal about how a party is functioning and the message it wants to send to the world about its ideals. And that’s what makes them so ripe for the kinds of internal fights over ideology and tactics that have spilled into public view this presidential cycle.
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