Advisory for Iowa Reporters and Editors
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The failure of the Senate majority to produce a budget blueprint for more than three years means there's no plan for deficit reduction, economic growth or a path toward a balanced federal budget. Senators voted 99 to 0 against President Obama's budget this week. Senate Democrats voted against three proposals by Republican senators yet offered none of their own.
There were budget votes in the Senate this week out of tremendous frustration that the Senate majority party has failed to act on its responsibility to produce an annual budget for three years. The Senate hasn't adopted a budget since April 2009. Since then, $4 trillion has been added to the national debt. It's the fourth consecutive year of spending $1 trillion more than we take in.
Because of failed leadership in the Senate, there's been no budget blueprint to lay out priorities for deficit reduction, economic growth or a path to balance. Our nation is driving toward a fiscal cliff of deficits and debt. No one in the majority party that controls the Senate's work is willing to take hold of the wheel.
The President proposed a budget in February, but it wasn't credible and it was rejected in the House of Representatives by a vote of 0 to 414. The Senate rejected it 0 to 99. The President hasn't done anything to spur responsible action in the Senate.
In contrast, the House of Representatives has met its responsibility in producing and passing a budget.
The bottom line is that Democratic leaders in the Senate and the White House seem content to ignore the fiscal train wreck that's coming and the harm it does to America's economy and jobs situation, putting political maneuvering in front of governing.
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