Senate Republicans Forcing Votes On Budgets Today

by William Warren

Today in Washington, D.C., D.C. - May 16, 2012:
The Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today and began up to six (6) hours of debate on motions to proceed to 5 different budget resolutions, none of which have been offered by Senate Democrats.

Because Democrats have refused to offer a budget, Senate Republicans are forcing votes on budget resolutions. These are votes on the motion to proceed to each budget. If any motion receives a majority of votes, the Senate would then take up and debate that budget resolution.

Around 4 PM, the Senate will vote on motions to proceed to these 5 budget resolutions: S. Con. Res. 41, President Obama’s budget; H. Con. Res. 112, the House-passed Paul Ryan Budget Resolution; S. Con. Res. 37, Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-PA) budget; S. Con. Res. 42, Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) budget; and S. Con. Res. 44, Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) budget.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 78-20 to pass H.R. 2072, the bill reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank. Prior to final passage, the Senate rejected 5 Republican amendments to reform the bank. Senate Democrats initially tried to block all amendments to the bill, but Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell insisted on allowing Republican amendments before the Senate could proceed. As many know being pro-business, I often support positions advanced by the US Chamber of Commerce. This time, I was on the opposite side of the issue opposing the re-authorization and expansion of the Ex-Im Bank( the Corporate Welfare Bill).  The AP reported that US Chamber of Commerce stated in a letter yesterday to U.S. Senators, "Failure to reauthorize the Ex-Im would amount to unilateral disarmament and cost tens of thousands of American jobs . . . last year Chinese export credit agencies provided almost 10 times more financial backing than the Ex-Im Bank did."

Yesterday, the House passed:

• HR 1864 (by voice vote) — Mobile workforce state income tax: "To limit the authority of States to tax certain income of employees for employment duties performed in other States."
• HR 205 (400-0) — Homeless emergency assistance:  "To amend the Act titled "An Act to authorize the leasing of restricted Indian lands for public, religious, educational, recreational, residential, business, and other purposes requiring the grant of long-term leases", approved August 9, 1955, to provide for Indian tribes to enter into certain leases without prior express approval from the Secretary of the Interior."
• HR 3534 (by voice vote) — Federal construction contractors: "To amend title 31, United States Code, to revise requirements related to assets pledged by a surety, and for other purposes."
• HR 365 (394-1) — Blue alerts to reduce violence against law enforcement: "To encourage, enhance, and integrate Blue Alert plans throughout the United States in order to disseminate information when a law enforcement officer is seriously injured or killed in the line of duty."
• HR 3874 (400-1) — Black Hills Cemetery: "To provide for the conveyance of eight cemeteries that are located on National Forest System land in Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota."
• HR 4045 (by voice vote) — Post-deployment administrative absence days: "To modify the Department of Defense Program Guidance relating to the award of Post-Deployment / Mobilization Respite Absence administrative absence days to members of the reserve components to exempt any member whose qualified mobilization commenced before October 1, 2011, and continued on or after that date, from the changes to the program guidance that took effect on that date."
• HR 4240 (by voice vote)  — North Korea human rights: "To reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, and for other purposes."

The following bills had action / discussions / debate but no final votes taken:
HR 4119 — Border tunnel prevention
HR 2745 — Multispecies habitat conservation plan for the Virgin River
HR 2621 — Chimney Rock Monument
H Res 568 — Iran nuclear weapons

Continuing yesterday points, today marks 1,113 days since majority Senate Democrats last passed a budget, over three years of fiscal irresponsibility. So today, Senate Republicans will force votes on a number of budget alternatives for them, even President Obama’s budget that would raise taxes, increase spending, and continue expanding the debt. Will Democrats vote for any budget today, even the one offered by the president of their own party?

Speaking on the Senate floor this morning, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “We’ve got a nearly $16 trillion debt; we’re borrowing more than 40 cents of every dollar we spend; entitlements are going broke; millions are out of work, and Democrats can’t even put a plan on paper for a vote? What are they doing over there? Isn’t anybody over there embarrassed by the fact that they haven’t offered a budget in three years? . . . As far as I can tell, their only plan is to take shots at our plans and hope nobody notices they not only don’t have one of their own. They’re so unserious they won’t even vote for a budget that was written by a President of their own party. It doesn’t get more irresponsible than that. . . . [I]t’s the responsibility of any majority party to put [a budget] together, to stand up and be counted. But since Democrats refuse to do their duty by the nation, Republicans will attempt to do it for them.”

The Washington Free Beacon explains, “The Democratic-led Senate has not formally proposed a federal budget resolution in more than three years, and is not expected to offer one Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad (D., N.D.) have made explicitly clear that they have no intention of doing so before the November election. Senate Republicans plan to offer four GOP budgets—authored by Sens. Mike Lee (R., Utah); Rand Paul (R., Ky.); Pat Toomey (R., Pa.); and House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.)—as well as the president’s budget.”

What do Democrats have to say for themselves? Not much, as The Washington Times’ Emily Miller writes today: “[Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s] go-to excuse this year has been that the Budget Control Act, which set lower spending levels in exchange for raising the debt ceiling last summer, was good enough to replace an actual budget. The Senate parliamentarian disagreed, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, insisted that the ruling by the Senate’s procedural referee meant Democrats couldn’t keep the five proposed budgets from being discussed on the floor.”

Politico reports that rank-and-file Senate Democrats aren’t particularly enamored with this excuse. “Senate Democrats are ripping into Republican budget plans but still refusing to offer one themselves — a move that’s frustrating a handful of centrists in their own party. . . . Democratic leaders have defiantly refused to lay out their own vision for how to deal with federal debt and spending, arguing that last summer’s debt-ceiling deal essentially serves as an actual budget. While a budget resolution is non-binding, they say, the Budget Control Act was signed into law. But a few centrists in the 53-member Democratic conference expressed frustration with their party’s budget inaction. ‘Anything we can do to force the Senate to deal with the debt is important to do, and the sooner the better,’ Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CN), who caucuses with Democrats, told POLITICO. ‘I don’t think [Democrats] will offer their own budget and I’m disappointed in that.’ Freshman Sen. Joe Manchin has often said he would have been “impeached” if he failed to produce a budget as West Virginia governor, though he conceded there are differences between the state and Senate budget processes. ‘Sure I have a problem with [failing to offer a budget]. As a former governor, my responsibility was to put a budget forward and balance it, so anyone who comes from the executive mindset has a problem with that. I don’t care if you’re Democrat or Republican,’ Manchin said in an interview. . . . Another Democrat . . . lamented that the budget process has broken down and is in need of a major overhaul. ‘The budget process is just not working around here. We’ve had three years with President Obama where we’re not able to get a budget resolution passed,’ Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) told POLITICO.”

And yet, as MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough put it this morning, “The Democrats have decided in the midst of a financial meltdown they're going to do absolutely nothing…” Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) previously said, “It would be foolish for us to do a budget at this stage,” and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said last year, “To put other budgets out there is not the point.”

As Leader McConnell said, “I think the Treasury Secretary summed it up pretty well when he was asked a few months ago what the administration planned to do to address entitlements — the single-biggest driver of the national debt. ‘We’re not coming before you today to say we have a definitive solution to that long-term problem,’ he said. ‘What we do know is, we don’t like yours.’ What breathtaking disregard for the problems we face. . . . Later today, we’ll vote on five different budget proposals: the President’s, Congressman Paul Ryan’s, Senator Pat Toomey’s, Senator Paul’s, and Senator Mike Lee’s. We’ll give Democrats a choice, and see if they’ll have the courage to get behind any of these proposals, or none of them.  And we’ll learn a lot. By the end of the day, we’ll know whether there’s a budget that Washington Democrats support. And the American people will know without a doubt who’s voting for solutions in this town — and who isn’t.”

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