It has been more than three years or in other words, more than 1000 days since the Democrat controlled Senate introduced a budget, not to mention passed one. At the same time, the Democratic Senate has painted the Republican House as "do-nothing," despite Republican efforts to pass multiple budgets and deficit management plans. For years, the federal government has been spending without a plan and has racked up record trillion dollar deficits every year since President Obama took office. Now, after all this time, it looks like there is some form of life coming from the Senate on a budget.
The Senate Budget Committee is prepared to mark up a budget next week, potentially as early as April 17, according to sources close to the panel.
Aides in both parties suggested today that they have been instructed to expect a markup to begin as early as April 17 and to stretch as long as April 19.
Reminder: By law the Senate must pass a budget each year, yet Majority Leader Harry Reid has ignored the legal requirement for as long as possible and is still "reluctant" to comply.
The move to proceed with a budget resolution in committee is counter to the initial desires of Democratic leaders, who are reluctant to bring a resolution to the floor. Though leaders rarely state this publicly, they have feared political repercussions, such as the threat of a limitless number of show votes or forcing vulnerable Members up for re-election to take politically undesirable votes.
Representatives for the majority and minority staff declined to specify when a markup would occur, only saying that it would take place next week when Senators return from recess.
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