This is exactly why people are frustrated with Washington politicians. Americans have to work within a budget. When they don’t, things go crazy. It works like that in Washington too, except our elected officials are quite happy letting things go crazy rather than following a budget. Just look at Democrat Steny Hoyer. At a briefing with reporters regarding the fact that it’s been 1,000 days since Congress passed a budget, Hoyer said, “The fact is, you don’t need a budget.” And these guys wonder why Congressional approval is in the toilet?
Hoyer said: “What does the budget do? The budget does one thing and really only one thing: It sets the parameters of spending and discretionary caps. Other than that, the Appropriations committee are not bound by the Budget committee’s priorities.”
He continued: “The fact is, you don’t need a budget. We can adopt appropriations bills. We can adopt authorization policies without a budget. We already have an agreed-upon cap on spending.”
As noted in the report by CNSNews.com, “the last time the Senate passed a budget was on Apr. 29, 2009.”
The federal government has since been operating on funds approved through a series of continuing resolutions (CR), raises in the debt ceiling, and several appropriations bills. The last CR was passed in mid-December 2011, by both the House and Senate, and signed by President Barack Obama.
That $915-billion deal, along with several appropriations measures, will keep the federal government operating though the end of fiscal year 2012, on Sept. 30.
CNSNews.com also noted that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also spoke about not needing a budget, saying, “We do not need to bring a budget to the floor this year. It’s done, we don’t need to do it.”
Is this insanity or what? Hoyer talks about an “agreed-upon cap on spending” as if that is a substitute for a budget. Does that “agreed-upon cap” do anything? NO! All these people do in Washington is vote to make it higher. There is no budget, and there is no spending cap.
Sen. Jeff Sessions issued a statement on Friday when Reid announced that “for the third year in a row, he would not bring a budget plan up for public debate and amendment on the Senate floor.”
nation’s fiscal future and the difficult choices we face. He obviously continues in his belief that it would be politically foolish for his members to go on record in support of any long-term vision. But by refusing to lay out a budget plan for public examination–a fact no one can deny–the Democrat Senate has forfeited the high privilege to lead this chamber.
It’s been 1,000 days since our leaders in Washington have passed a budget. 1,000 days! Isn’t it time to get some new people in there? These guys may understand how Washington works, but they sure don’t know anything about how an average American family works. Get a clue!
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