758 Days & Counting Since Senate Democrats Passed A Budget
It’s been 758 days since U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and the Democrats who run the Senate have performed the most basic job function of Congress by passing a federal budget.
In this Congress alone, Democrats like Sherrod Brown haven’t even offered any budget proposal, because their partisan leaders – Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) – have said that to do so would be “foolish,” and that Democrats do not have the time to propose a budget.
Yet somehow, Sherrod Brown and the Democrats found the time to take a week-long recess from Washington. Meanwhile in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, not only did they find the time to propose and pass a budget, but they were able to accomplish this simple task by April 15, 2011.
“It’s ironic that Democrats like Sherrod Brown say they are too busy to pass or even propose a budget, but then conveniently find the time to take a one-week vacation,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Spokesman Jahan Wilcox. “With a national debt of $14.3 trillion, Ohioans deserve to know how Sherrod Brown can justify taking this vacation when he should be working on a budget that will rein in his reckless spending habits that are bankrupting our country.”
Background Information:
THE HILL: “Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) downplayed the lack of a Democratic budget proposal Monday, saying there’s simply no room to deal with an alternative until the Senate has voted on the House GOP’s controversial proposal.” (Sam Baker, Schumer: Alternatives to Ryan budget ‘not the point,’ The Hill, 05/23/11)
BUT TO PROPOSE AND PASS A BUDGET IS CONGRESS’ MOST BASIC FUNCTION
WALL STREET JOURNAL: “…Democrats still run the Senate… When it comes to their core responsibility under the law of passing a budget resolution, they are A.W.O.L.” (Editorial, “Cool Hand Harry,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/26/11)
ROLL CALL: “Democrats chose not to produce their own budget while bipartisan negotiations led by Vice President Joseph Biden continue and instead pivoted to a show-vote strategy… As dramatic as the vote on Ryan’s budget was, the next vote was even more jarring: 97 Senators voted against President Barack Obama’s budget proposal, with none voting in favor.” (“Senate Spurns Ryan Budget,” Roll Call, 5/25/11)
POLITICO: “But there’s another unresolved question after yesterday’s votes: Where do Democrats, with their party in control of the White House and Senate, stand on the budget. They were unable to produce one last year, when they held both chambers of Congress and it’s not clear that any of their divisions over spending and taxing have been bridged. The Senate’s answer to not having a budget: Vote no on every other plan.” (Politico’s Huddle, 5/26/11)
SO SHERROD BROWN’S INACTION IS MAKING THIS A LEGISLATIVE SNOOZEFEST
ROLL CALL: “The legislative snoozefest that has been the U.S. Senate this year isn’t likely to change anytime soon …” (Steven T. Dennis, “Senate Faces Modest Agenda as Debt Limit Looms,” Roll Call, 05/01/11)
POLITICO: “Through last week, the Senate had held only 70 roll-call votes, the lowest level through this point in the year since 1997. About a quarter of those votes have been on nominations — many of them noncontroversial.” (Manu Raju, “Slow-go Senate avoids tough roll-call votes,” Politico, 05/18/11)
ROLL CALL: “Even the modest agenda laid out by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has begun to stall.” (Steven T. Dennis, “Senate Faces Modest Agenda as Debt Limit Looms,” Roll Call, 05/01/11)
WHICH IS BANKRUPTING OUR COUNTRY
On April 27, 2009 – The Last Time Democrats Passed A Budget
The National Debt Was $11.2 Trillion.
(Treasury Direct Website, www.treasurydirect.gov, Accessed 5/18/11)
May 27, 2011
The National Debt Is Now Over $14.3 Trillion.
(Treasury Direct Website, www.treasurydirect.gov, Accessed 5/26/11)
