• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Senate poised to pass budget

A

Anonymous

Guest
Senate poised to pass budget

By Erik Wasson - 03/22/13 06:00 AM ET





The Democrat-controlled Senate appears set to approve its first budget resolution in four years.

Votes on amendments to the budget began Thursday night, with a final vote set for late Friday or early Saturday.

In a sign of caucus unity, only one Democrat broke ranks to support a key GOP motion on Thursday night. The motion simply called for Democrats to rewrite their budget so that it balanced within ten years.

Only Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) joined Republicans to support it.

The entire Democratic caucus also rejected a GOP amendment to replace the budget's tax reform instructions, which raises $975 billion in revenue, with instructions to complete revenue-neutral tax reform.

Democrats can only afford to lose only five votes on their budget, which would allow Vice President Biden to cast a tie-breaking ballot. A handful of Democrats from red states, several of whom are facing re-election in 2014, are the key.

Undecided senators include Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.).
 If they all voted “no,” the budget would fail.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has prevented a budget resolution from being debated since 2009 in part to protect his members from tough votes.
 


But he has signaled this year will be different.

“We're going to finish the budget before we leave here for the Easter break,” Reid promised this week. “That is for sure. My caucus knows this."

Vulnerable Democratic senators could be seen going in and out of Reid’s office on Thursday as Senate leaders tried to shore up their troops.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) emerged to say he had decided at the last minute to support the plan.
 
“We looked through it. We think attacks the deficit from a reasonable perspective and protects investments to get the economy going,” Tester said.
 


He said he didn’t know if it would pass, and if an amendment allowing online purchases to be hit with sales taxes were attached it would be a problem for him.
 


Other vulnerable Democrats like Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) have joined Tester in supporting the budget.

Reid and Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) say their plan would reduce the deficit by $4 trillion.

But it includes nearly $1 trillion in new taxes that could be difficult for some centrist Democrats to support. And since the Democratic budget turns off the sequester of automatic spending cuts, Republicans argue it would increase spending over the next decade.


The Senate budget is unlikely to be reconciled with the House budget to become law, but that won’t stop the GOP from using Democratic votes for the budget in future campaign ads.

Reid and Murray are selling the budget as a “balanced approach” backed by the public in the 2012 elections.

They argue that, counting $1.8 trillion in spending cuts from the last Congress, the plan adds up to more than $4 trillion in deficit reduction—a feat in line with the 2010 recommendations of the Bowles-Simpson Commission.
 



Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/289753-senate-poised-to-pass-budget#ixzz2OHPCRTDc
Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook


The Senate budget is unlikely to be reconciled with the House budget to become law,

So will this mean another year with no budget being approved by this Dysfunctional Congress?
 

TexasBred

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
So will this mean another year with no budget being approved by this Dysfunctional Congress?

Standing up to tyranny and waste is not a sign of a dysfunctional congress....it is the sign that at least one side of congress is very functional and stands up for those who elected them.
 

Tam

Well-known member
TexasBred said:
Oldtimer said:
So will this mean another year with no budget being approved by this Dysfunctional Congress?

Standing up to tyranny and waste is not a sign of a dysfunctional congress....it is the sign that at least one side of congress is very functional and stands up for those who elected them.

Comical how the guy that b*tched about Bush rubber stamping every budget busting bill passed by a DEMOCRAT CONTROLED SENATE AND HOUSE is now b*tching because the Republicans are not rubber stamp the Dems. tax hiking bills isn't it. :roll:
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Tam said:
TexasBred said:
Oldtimer said:
So will this mean another year with no budget being approved by this Dysfunctional Congress?

Standing up to tyranny and waste is not a sign of a dysfunctional congress....it is the sign that at least one side of congress is very functional and stands up for those who elected them.

Comical how the guy that b*tched about Bush rubber stamping every budget busting bill passed by a DEMOCRAT CONTROLED SENATE AND HOUSE is now b*tching because the Republicans are not rubber stamp the Dems. tax hiking bills isn't it. :roll:

NO- the Bush Congress's rubber stamped every budget bill or request Bush made-allowing him to put everything on the charge card- but now that Congress is looking at paying off that debt thru taxing the rich and cutting excess spending (which is the direction most the voters of the country think should be taken to reduce the debt) - while continuing to move the country forward----- with the Dysfunctional Congress not being able to pass a budget-- and having to operate off crisis bill after crisis bill passed within hours of a government shutdown-- they are not only setting some dangerous precedent-- but sending a message to investors and entrepreneurs of the world that the country is economically unstable and weak...
 

okfarmer

Well-known member
Tam said:
TexasBred said:
Oldtimer said:
So will this mean another year with no budget being approved by this Dysfunctional Congress?

Standing up to tyranny and waste is not a sign of a dysfunctional congress....it is the sign that at least one side of congress is very functional and stands up for those who elected them.

Comical how the guy that b*tched about Bush rubber stamping every budget busting bill passed by a DEMOCRAT CONTROLED SENATE AND HOUSE is now b*tching because the Republicans are not rubber stamp the Dems. tax hiking bills isn't it. :roll:

:lol: :lol:
 

TexasBred

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
NO- the Bush Congress's rubber stamped every budget bill or request Bush made-allowing him to put everything on the charge card- but now that Congress is looking at paying off that debt thru taxing the rich and cutting excess spending (which is the direction most the voters of the country think should be taken to reduce the debt) - while continuing to move the country forward----- with the Dysfunctional Congress not being able to pass a budget-- and having to operate off crisis bill after crisis bill passed within hours of a government shutdown-- they are not only setting some dangerous precedent-- but sending a message to investors and entrepreneurs of the world that the country is economically unstable and weak...

Surely you are not so stupid as to think we can tax ourselves into liquidity?? We would liquidate the 1% and apply it to the debt and not cover this years shortfall...then what???
 

Tam

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Tam said:
TexasBred said:
Standing up to tyranny and waste is not a sign of a dysfunctional congress....it is the sign that at least one side of congress is very functional and stands up for those who elected them.

Comical how the guy that b*tched about Bush rubber stamping every budget busting bill passed by a DEMOCRAT CONTROLED SENATE AND HOUSE is now b*tching because the Republicans are not rubber stamp the Dems. tax hiking bills isn't it. :roll:

NO- the Bush Congress's rubber stamped every budget bill or request Bush made-allowing him to put everything on the charge card- but now that Congress is looking at paying off that debt thru taxing the rich and cutting excess spending (which is the direction most the voters of the country think should be taken to reduce the debt) - while continuing to move the country forward----- with the Dysfunctional Congress not being able to pass a budget-- and having to operate off crisis bill after crisis bill passed within hours of a government shutdown-- the are not only setting some dangerous precedent-- but sending a message to investors and entrepreneurs of the world that the country is economically unstable and weak...

See this is where your complaints about the Republicans falls apart Oldtimer, the Dems controled the House and Senate during the last two years of the Bush Administration. In other words THEY HAD CONTROL OF THE PURSE STRINGS. :wink: SO if they really cared about what Bush was spending money on, all they had to do is vote NO. But they didn't WHY? I'm guessing they were hiding billions of dollars worth of PORK in the bills THEY PASSED and sent to Bush to sign into law. If Bush wanted what he needed to fight a war on terrorism he was going to have to play ball and sign their PORK into law too.

Then you have the years where the Dems controlled the Senate, House and Oval Office. Remember those years Oldtimer, the Dems repayment to their Campaign donors was so out of control it only took two year of their total control for the voters to realize something needed to be done and the Dems made history again by being handed one of the biggest election loses in history. The voters knew the DEMS. spending was not sutainable and sent a message to Washington but the Dems don't care as long as the unsustainable spending is buying them votes they have no problem putiing it on the tab for your grandchildren to pay off. And you don't seem to mind either or you would be b*tching about Obama's tripling down on the debt but nope not a word comes from your Hypocrite mouth.

So now you have the Republicans that were sent to Washington to stop the Dems spending spree, trying to pass a BALANCED BUDGET and the Dems will have nothing to do with it. NO BALANCED BUDGET for the party of record debt and deficit and downgrading of the Nations Credit Rating. And the only B*TCHING we hear coming from you is the Republicans are not rubber stamping Obama's out of control vote buying spending. :roll:
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Tam said:
Oldtimer said:
Tam said:
Comical how the guy that b*tched about Bush rubber stamping every budget busting bill passed by a DEMOCRAT CONTROLED SENATE AND HOUSE is now b*tching because the Republicans are not rubber stamp the Dems. tax hiking bills isn't it. :roll:

NO- the Bush Congress's rubber stamped every budget bill or request Bush made-allowing him to put everything on the charge card- but now that Congress is looking at paying off that debt thru taxing the rich and cutting excess spending (which is the direction most the voters of the country think should be taken to reduce the debt) - while continuing to move the country forward----- with the Dysfunctional Congress not being able to pass a budget-- and having to operate off crisis bill after crisis bill passed within hours of a government shutdown-- the are not only setting some dangerous precedent-- but sending a message to investors and entrepreneurs of the world that the country is economically unstable and weak...

See this is where your complaints about the Republicans falls apart Oldtimer, the Dems controled the House and Senate during the last two years of the Bush Administration. In other words THEY HAD CONTROL OF THE PURSE STRINGS. :wink: SO if they really cared about what Bush was spending money on, all they had to do is vote NO. But they didn't WHY? I'm guessing they were hiding billions of dollars worth of PORK in the bills THEY PASSED and sent to Bush to sign into law. If Bush wanted what he needed to fight a war on terrorism he was going to have to play ball and sign their PORK into law too.

Then you have the years where the Dems controlled the Senate, House and Oval Office. Remember those years Oldtimer, the Dems repayment to their Campaign donors was so out of control it only took two year of their total control for the voters to realize something needed to be done and the Dems made history again by being handed one of the biggest election loses in history. The voters knew the DEMS. spending was not sutainable and sent a message to Washington but the Dems don't care as long as the unsustainable spending is buying them votes they have no problem putiing it on the tab for your grandchildren to pay off. And you don't seem to mind either or you would be b*tching about Obama's tripling down on the debt but nope not a word comes from your Hypocrite mouth.

So now you have the Republicans that were sent to Washington to stop the Dems spending spree, trying to pass a BALANCED BUDGET and the Dems will have nothing to do with it. NO BALANCED BUDGET for the party of record debt and deficit and downgrading of the Nations Credit Rating. And the only B*TCHING we hear coming from you is the Republicans are not rubber stamping Obama's out of control vote buying spending. :roll:

And who said I was arguing against the Pubes Tammy-- all I said was a rubber stamp Congress (thinking they had to as patriots) gave GW anything he wanted- and even said we didn't need to pay for it... Just charge it...

So now we are looking to repay those huge debts GW ran up-- and the Congress becomes dysfunctional- and can't compromise enough to raise some more income and lower some expenditures....
But I agree with one thing on the Repubs-- its time for some of them to forget about their oath to a Lobbyist named Grover- and remember their oath to the country and get a compromise budget in place...
 

Tam

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Tam said:
Oldtimer said:
NO- the Bush Congress's rubber stamped every budget bill or request Bush made-allowing him to put everything on the charge card- but now that Congress is looking at paying off that debt thru taxing the rich and cutting excess spending (which is the direction most the voters of the country think should be taken to reduce the debt) - while continuing to move the country forward----- with the Dysfunctional Congress not being able to pass a budget-- and having to operate off crisis bill after crisis bill passed within hours of a government shutdown-- the are not only setting some dangerous precedent-- but sending a message to investors and entrepreneurs of the world that the country is economically unstable and weak...

See this is where your complaints about the Republicans falls apart Oldtimer, the Dems controled the House and Senate during the last two years of the Bush Administration. In other words THEY HAD CONTROL OF THE PURSE STRINGS. :wink: SO if they really cared about what Bush was spending money on, all they had to do is vote NO. But they didn't WHY? I'm guessing they were hiding billions of dollars worth of PORK in the bills THEY PASSED and sent to Bush to sign into law. If Bush wanted what he needed to fight a war on terrorism he was going to have to play ball and sign their PORK into law too.

Then you have the years where the Dems controlled the Senate, House and Oval Office. Remember those years Oldtimer, the Dems repayment to their Campaign donors was so out of control it only took two year of their total control for the voters to realize something needed to be done and the Dems made history again by being handed one of the biggest election loses in history. The voters knew the DEMS. spending was not sutainable and sent a message to Washington but the Dems don't care as long as the unsustainable spending is buying them votes they have no problem putiing it on the tab for your grandchildren to pay off. And you don't seem to mind either or you would be b*tching about Obama's tripling down on the debt but nope not a word comes from your Hypocrite mouth.

So now you have the Republicans that were sent to Washington to stop the Dems spending spree, trying to pass a BALANCED BUDGET and the Dems will have nothing to do with it. NO BALANCED BUDGET for the party of record debt and deficit and downgrading of the Nations Credit Rating. And the only B*TCHING we hear coming from you is the Republicans are not rubber stamping Obama's out of control vote buying spending. :roll:

And who said I was arguing against the Pubes Tammy-- all I said was a rubber stamp Congress (thinking they had to as patriots) gave GW anything he wanted- and even said we didn't need to pay for it... Just charge it...

So now we are looking to repay those huge debts GW ran up-- and the Congress becomes dysfunctional- and can't compromise enough to raise some more income and lower some expenditures....
But I agree with one thing on the Repubs-- its time for some of them to forget about their oath to a Lobbyist named Grover- and remember their oath to the country and get a compromise budget in place...

The Huge debt GW RAN UP. You just can't help yourself can you Oldtimer :roll:

Read this very slowly Oldtimer

The Congress, that was controlled by the Democrats wrote most of the bills that ran up that debt but you want to blame one man BUSH.

Unlike the Dems under Obama's first two years, when the Republicans had their majority, they still needed BIPARTISAN support to pass a spending bill so the Dems had control to stop your so called Bush Spending BUT DID NOT. :x

But what makes it worse, you do this while backslapping Obama/Dems who have run up three times as much debt in half the time thanks to the same, tax the rich, spend the US into debt, Dems who have been controling the purse strings through this whole exploding Nation debt crisis.
 

Whitewing

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Tam said:
TexasBred said:
Standing up to tyranny and waste is not a sign of a dysfunctional congress....it is the sign that at least one side of congress is very functional and stands up for those who elected them.

Comical how the guy that b*tched about Bush rubber stamping every budget busting bill passed by a DEMOCRAT CONTROLED SENATE AND HOUSE is now b*tching because the Republicans are not rubber stamp the Dems. tax hiking bills isn't it. :roll:

NO- the Bush Congress's rubber stamped every budget bill or request Bush made-allowing him to put everything on the charge card- but now that Congress is looking at paying off that debt thru taxing the rich and cutting excess spending (which is the direction most the voters of the country think should be taken to reduce the debt) - while continuing to move the country forward----- with the Dysfunctional Congress not being able to pass a budget-- and having to operate off crisis bill after crisis bill passed within hours of a government shutdown-- they are not only setting some dangerous precedent-- but sending a message to investors and entrepreneurs of the world that the country is economically unstable and weak...

No need to send a message to the world that the country is economically unstable and weak, they already knew it before last Nov's election.
 

Mike

Well-known member
Whitewing said:
Oldtimer said:
Tam said:
Comical how the guy that b*tched about Bush rubber stamping every budget busting bill passed by a DEMOCRAT CONTROLED SENATE AND HOUSE is now b*tching because the Republicans are not rubber stamp the Dems. tax hiking bills isn't it. :roll:

NO- the Bush Congress's rubber stamped every budget bill or request Bush made-allowing him to put everything on the charge card- but now that Congress is looking at paying off that debt thru taxing the rich and cutting excess spending (which is the direction most the voters of the country think should be taken to reduce the debt) - while continuing to move the country forward----- with the Dysfunctional Congress not being able to pass a budget-- and having to operate off crisis bill after crisis bill passed within hours of a government shutdown-- they are not only setting some dangerous precedent-- but sending a message to investors and entrepreneurs of the world that the country is economically unstable and weak...

No need to send a message to the world that the country is economically unstable and weak, they already knew it before last Nov's election.

But Buckwheat said just this week that we have no long term debt crisis and Boehner agreed. :???:

Someone seems to have a problem with facts. Is it OT or Buckwheat? :lol:

Or both!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Tam

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
But I agree with one thing on the Repubs-- its time for some of them to forget about their oath to a Lobbyist named Grover- and remember their oath to the country and get a compromise budget in place...

See Oldtimer to you it is all about the Repubs and them forgetting their promises and compromise, what about the Dems and them forgetting their promises to leftwingers about raising taxes on the Rich and Compromising on actually CUT SPENDING. Or did you forget this.

In July of 2011, Standard & Poor's announced that it would cut the U.S. credit rating from its vaunted AAA status within three months "if we conclude that Congress and the Administration have not achieved a credible solution to the rising U.S. government debt burden

Members of Congress apparently didn't notice (or care). They dickered over raising the U.S. borrowing limit until the last second, and delayed meaningful action on cutting spending. So as promised, on August 5, 2011, S&P cut the U.S. credit rating by one notch for the first time ever. The stock market fell by nearly 7 percent.

The agencies that rate sovereign debt are once again spelling out what will lead to another U.S. downgrade, and Congress seems not to be listening this time, either. Moody's and Fitch still give America's debt their top rating, but like S&P, they've put the United States on a negative outlook, which means a downgrade could be coming.

The recent deal to avert the fiscal cliff helped a little by preventing widespread tax hikes that probably would have caused a recession and made the national debt even worse. That deal also resolved some long standing questions by locking in tax rates permanently instead of leaving them subject to further political action, which reduces uncertainty.

But the deal did virtually nothing to cut spending or improve the nation's shaky finances, which is why further downgrades seem likely. Here's what could trigger them:

Another standoff over the debt ceiling. The nation's borrowing limit will need to be raised again around late February, and another political cage match that threatens a default on U.S. debt will cut confidence in America's governing machinery even more. "Failure to reach agreement on raising the debt ceiling in a timely manner—weeks in advance rather than just a single day before the funding capacity of the federal government is exhausted, as happened in August 2011—would raise questions about US governance on fiscal matters," Fitch said in a December report. Such a standoff will "prompt a formal review of the U.S. rating."

A failure to cut spending in 2013. Just about everybody agrees that Washington still has to axe hundreds of billions in annual spending to stabilize its finances. Some hope it will happen as part of a deal to extend the debt ceiling. The problem is that most government spending actually benefits somebody—seniors, home buyers, the poor, defense contractors—and Congress has proven itself particularly reluctant to reduce anybody's benefits.

Moody's wants to see spending cuts, and perhaps even more tax hikes, as part of a big budget deal in the first few months of 2013 that would convincingly improve the government's long-termfinances. "The debt trajectory resulting from this process is likely to determine whether the Aaa rating is returned to a stable outlook or downgraded," Moody's said in a statement following the January 1 fiscal-cliff deal. If Congress continually delays spending cuts—the habit in recent years—a downgrade could come by summer.

The US Debt Credit Raters are threatening ANOTHER downgrade if the Administration and Congress can't come to an agreement on SPENDING CUTS and Obama is out promising more freebies to buy more votes. Yep Oldtimer that is really going to put confidence in the Credit raters minds when it comes to their decision on the US credit rating. :roll:

Go Obama, the only President in US history to perside over multiple Credit downgrades due to US over spending and it's the Repubs that should compromise. :roll:
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Gary Johnson:


I suppose we should give the Senate a small measure of credit for actually passing a budget for the first time in four years. BUT, let's face reality: This budget will be a meaningless fraud. It is nonbinding; spending levels have already been set in the so-called debt ceiling deal; and the only thing worse than it being nonbinding would be if it WAS binding. At some point, the politicians need to get serious and stop playing games with our futures.
 

hopalong

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Gary Johnson:


I suppose we should give the Senate a small measure of credit for actually passing a budget for the first time in four years. BUT, let's face reality: This budget will be a meaningless fraud. It is nonbinding; spending levels have already been set in the so-called debt ceiling deal; and the only thing worse than it being nonbinding would be if it WAS binding. At some point, the politicians need to get serious and stop playing games with our futures.
 

Tam

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Gary Johnson:


I suppose we should give the Senate a small measure of credit for actually passing a budget for the first time in four years. BUT, let's face reality: This budget will be a meaningless fraud. It is nonbinding; spending levels have already been set in the so-called debt ceiling deal; and the only thing worse than it being nonbinding would be if it WAS binding. At some point, the politicians need to get serious and stop playing games with our futures.

Say Oldtimer we know you didn't vote for Ron Paul in the Presidentual election so why didn't you vote for Gary Johnson as he was on the ballot and was not a Repub or Dem?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Tam said:
Oldtimer said:
Gary Johnson:


I suppose we should give the Senate a small measure of credit for actually passing a budget for the first time in four years. BUT, let's face reality: This budget will be a meaningless fraud. It is nonbinding; spending levels have already been set in the so-called debt ceiling deal; and the only thing worse than it being nonbinding would be if it WAS binding. At some point, the politicians need to get serious and stop playing games with our futures.

Say Oldtimer we know you didn't vote for Ron Paul in the Presidentual election so why didn't you vote for Gary Johnson as he was on the ballot and was not a Repub or Dem?

Where you been hiding?... Do you only read your own posts? How many times do I have to tell you I did vote for Gary Johnson... :roll: OY VEY woman!
 

Tam

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Tam said:

Say Oldtimer we know you didn't vote for Ron Paul in the Presidentual election so why didn't you vote for Gary Johnson as he was on the ballot and was not a Repub or Dem?



Where you been hiding?... Do you only read your own posts? How many times do I have to tell you I did vote for Gary Johnson... :roll: OY VEY woman!

Gee let's see, I think you know I had surgery right after the US election and was not on Political Bull for over two months so I might have missed a few of your posts so forgive me. :roll:
That said, it's a good thing ballots are secret and we have nothing to go on but what you tell us Oldtimer. BUT given the fact you spent the last four years defending Obama's every movement, somehow I doubt what you are claiming now, and that could be because of YOUR LITTLE CREDIBILTY PROBLEM. :wink:
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
NO- the Bush Congress's rubber stamped every budget bill or request Bush made-allowing him to put everything on the charge card-

As much as Bush was a Liberal spender, (which many conservatives, on Ranchers, criticized him for), many of his proposed budgets were increased by the "rubber stampers".



OT, can you tell us Bush's proposed budget amounts, compared to what Congress passed?[/quote]
 
Top