GOP is Wrong to Claim Senate Hasn't Passed a Budget

In an attempt to distract the American people from their destructive fiscal policy, the Republicans have frequently claimed that the Senate hasn't passed a budget in years. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) and three of his fellow GOP Senators even held a press conference yesterday to mark what they claimed was the 1,000th day since the last time the Senate passed a budget. While that might make a good talking point, the claim is absolutely wrong because the Budget Control Act passed in the Senate by a margin of 74 to 26 on August 22 of last year.

Not only was the Budget Control Act passed by the Senate, but it was also passed by the Republican controlled House of Representatives and signed into law by President Obama. It might not have been a traditional budget resolution, but it achieved all of the essential elements of that resolution by setting discretionary caps, providing enforcement mechanisms, and creating a process for addressing entitlement spending and revenues (remember the Super Committee – that was a result of this act).

While Republicans might want to claim that this wasn’t a traditional budget resolution and therefore shouldn’t count, Sen. Kent Conrad (the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee) took to the Senate floor to highlight how “the Budget Control Act is stronger than a typical budget resolution.” The reason he’s able to make that argument is that:

• It was actually signed into law, unlike a budget resolution that is not signed by the President.
• While the normal budget resolution sets discretionary caps for one year, the Budget Control Act set the caps for 10 years.
• It allows budget points of order to be enforced by providing enforcement mechanisms, including a two-year “deemer.”
• It also addressed entitlement spending and revenues by creating the “Super Committee,” which was given explicit authority to reform entitlements and the tax code. That process, if it had been successful, would have been much stronger than the reconciliation process that can be established by a traditional resolution.

What this all means is that the claims that Sen. Ron Johnson and his fellow Republicans have been making are absolutely false. There was indeed a budget passed by the Senate and it was actually supported by over half of the GOP Senators. When it comes down to telling the truth, however, it looks like the GOP can’t be bothered with facts.

UPDATE: For those of you who are interested, the following is the speech given by Sen. Conrad that I referenced. You can also see the full transcript below the fold.




In listening to some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle -- both in speeches here and in press statements they have made -- I repeatedly hear them saying we have not had a budget for 1,000 days. That is just wrong. That is absolutely wrong.

Sometimes I wonder if our colleagues are paying attention to what goes on here on the floor of the Senate. Have they already forgotten the Budget Control Act? Here it is. On August 2nd of last year, the Budget Control Act passed this body 74 to 26. More than half of our Republican colleagues voted for it. Didn't they know what they were voting on? The Budget Control Act contains the budget for this year and for next year. Weren't they paying attention? Don't they know what they voted on?

In many ways, the Budget Control Act is stronger than a typical budget resolution, and it is stronger in these ways: No. 1, it is more extensive than a traditional budget resolution. No. 2, it has the force of law. Unlike a budget resolution that is not signed by the President, the Budget Control Act that we passed last August, that provides the budget for this year and for next year, is a law passed by the House of Representatives, passed by the Senate, signed by the President of the United States -- the Budget Control Act. It also set discretionary caps on spending for 10 years instead of the 1 year normally set in a budget resolution.

So when our colleagues come out here and say we have not had a budget in 1,000 days, wow, can they really have missed the vote, the debate, the consideration of the Budget Control Act? Did they really miss all that or -- or -- are they saying something they know to be untrue, because really those are the only choices you are left with. Either they do not know what they did or they are misrepresenting what we all did.

Not only does the Budget Control Act set discretionary caps for 10 years, it also provided enforcement mechanisms, including a 2-year "deeming" resolution, allowing budget points of order to be enforced. That is what a budget does. It sets the spending levels, it creates spending caps, and it provides enforcement mechanisms. All of that is in the Budget Control Act we passed on August 2nd of last year with a vote of 74 to 26. Not only did we pass it, but the Republican-controlled House passed it, and the President signed it. It is the law of the land. It sets the budget for this year. It sets the budget for next year. It provides enforcement mechanisms. It sets 10 years of spending caps. And it created a reconciliation-like supercommittee to address entitlement and tax reforms.

That supercommittee did not come up with a result, but they were established in the Budget Control Act, and they were given the authority -- just like a reconciliation provision would -- to come back with a package that could not be filibustered and could not be altered and could pass with a simple majority. That is the fact.

So if we hear colleagues come out and say one more time that we have not had a budget for 1,000 days, I hope somebody will have the sense to stand up and say: Really? What was the Budget Control Act about? What was this legislation that passed not only the Senate on a vote of 74 to 26 but passed the House of Representatives, which is controlled by the other party, and was signed by the President of the United States?

Republican rhetoric aside, Congress did pass a budget -- not through the normal way of a budget resolution but through an actual law. The Republican-controlled House passed it, the Democratic Senate passed it, and the President signed it.

The Budget Control Act set 10 years of spending caps, established a 2-year "deeming" resolution to enforce spending levels, and it created a reconciliation-like process to consider entitlement and tax reform.

I hope we have laid this issue to rest. So now if I hear colleagues come out and say that we have not had a budget for 1,000 days -- I will know they have been put on fair notice. Maybe they missed somehow what they were voting on back in August. Maybe they gapped out. Maybe they forgot. But you know what, they voted for it. Every Member of the Senate voted on the Budget Control Act. Seventy-four to twenty-six -- add it up -- that is 100. Everybody was here. And if they did not know what they were voting on, now they do. So if I hear another assertion that there has not been a budget for 1,000 days, I will know and the listeners will know that somebody is not telling the truth.

I thank the Chair and yield the floor.