Today in Washington, D.C. - June 22, 2010 - Dems Say No Congressional Budget This Year - Full Speed Ahead for Government Debt , Bailouts and Expanding Government

The Senate will likely later today resume consideration of the debt-extending “tax extenders bill,” the House message to accompany H.R. 4213. Also the SCOTUS nomination of Elana Kagan is being pressed to Senate members who have been waiting for information from the Clinton Library regarding Kagan.

But. the big news is from the US House this morning. Democrat House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced that the House of Representatives will not pass a budget this year. According to The Hill, “The House has never failed to pass an annual budget resolution since the current budget rules were put into place in 1974.” Apparently, House Democrats will instead pass a “budget enforcement resolution,” which The Hill refers to as a “deeming” resolution, which won’t actually budget for anything, but will simply endorse the goals of President Obama’s fiscal commission.

The truth is that all the members of Congress wishing to remain in office are on the ballot this November and even those not running for office are concerned at the repercussions at the polls. The Democrats who control the agenda in the US House do not want to propose a budget and to have their remarks and votes used against them by the voters in their districts. They are like employees refusing to work but still getting paid to work. Needless to say, this is simply the latest example of Democrats’ fiscal recklessness and irresponsibility. Democrats began 2009 by passing their massive $862 billion stimulus bill, which has failed to live up to its promises of keeping unemployment around 8% and then followed it up by passing a $410 billion omnibus spending bill. The 2009 omnibus featured “an across-the-board 8 percent increase in spending over [2008] — twice the rate of inflation,” as Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell described it at the time. A year later, President Obama signed into law his unpopular health care spending bill, which could cost as much as $2.5 trillion. Far from reducing government health care spending as Democrats promised, the law will save almost nothing, and the Obama administration’s own Medicare actuary says it will increase government spending. Meanwhile, adding some context to the reports that Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orzag is expected to step down next month, CBS News reporter Mark Knoller pointed out, “On Orszag's watch, the National Debt has so far soared $2.4-trillion dollars to an all time high over $13-trillion.”

And now, we receive confirmation that the House Democrats won’t pass a budget because they can’t get the votes and don’t want to highlight their spending binge in an election year.

House GOP Leader John Boehner issued the following pointed response:

WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU THATTHE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET

PLANNED FOR FISCAL YEAR 2011 HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO WASHINGTON DEMOCRATS’ OUT-OF-CONTROL SPENDING SPREE.

AN APOLOGY FOR THIS BETRAYAL OF AMERICAN TAXPAYERS DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE FORTHCOMING AT THIS TIME.
BE ADVISED THAT THE FOLLOWING SERVICES WILL BE INTERRUPTED:

• Imposing the fiscal discipline economists say is needed to create jobs and boost our economy
• Reining in the out-of-control spending spree and $13 trillion debt that is killing American jobs
• Carrying out the “most basic responsibility of governing”
• Stopping middle-class tax hikes that will sock family budgets at the worst possible time
• Providing the leadership on jobs and the economy that Americans say is sorely lacking
• Protecting our kids and grandkids from the enormous debt burden Washington has placed on them

We reserve the right to notify you of additional consequences that may arise in light of this budget failure, which is unprecedented in the modern era. In the interim, please brace for more spending, more debt, more tax hikes, more broken promises.

For families and small businesses looking for a government that listens to the people it serves and respects their hard-earned money, House Republicans are offering better solutions to cut spending now and help small businesses put people back to work.

Sen. McConnell said yesterday, “[T]he kind of spending and debt Democrats are engaged in and which they’re committed to continue year after year is like nothing this country has ever seen. And it threatens not only the livelihoods of our children; it threatens our national security, and the very safety net Democrats claim they want to protect. The fact is, the longer we wait to address this debt in a serious manner, the more that safety net frays—and the harder this crisis will be to address. At some point, a choice has to be made. And that point is now.”

Rep. Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, said: “House Democrats are making history again, but for all the wrong reasons. Last year they were responsible for adding $1.9 trillion to the national debt. This year they won’t even propose an annual budget resolution, marking the first time that has happened since the current budget rules were established in 1974. This is an historic failure of leadership. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer once said, ‘The most basic responsibility of governing’ is ‘enacting a budget.’ He now admits that his party, with its overwhelming majority in the House, will shirk that responsibility this year. But that won’t stop Democrats from their out of control spending. Through the first eight months of the current fiscal year, the federal government amassed $935 billion in deficit spending. The American people are tired of the Democrats’ habit of taxing, spending, and borrowing too much. Without a budget blueprint, those dangerous trends will grow worse and will pile massive debt on our children and grandchildren.”

---

Tags: Washington, D.C., US Senate, US House, US Congress, expanding government, no budget, congressional budget To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!