Timeline Of Senate Democrats’ Refusal To Make Budget Plans Public
April 29, 2009 – The last time the Democrat-led Senate adopted a budget resolution. Also the last time the Majority brought a budget plan to the floor.
April 22, 2010 – The Budget Committee completes action on a mark-up and reports a budget out of committee, but the Democrat majority chooses to keep its own plan from being offered on the Senate floor. This is the last time the Majority conducted a legally required markup.
May 17, 2011 – Despite missing the statutory deadline for a budget to be passed out of the Budget Committee, Chairman Conrad delays the unveiling of his budget for FY 2012, announcing that “I’ll say something later — not today, probably… There are a lot of conversations under way.”
April 15 – The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passes its budget for FY 2012, which cuts $6 trillion in comparison to the president’s budget.
May 18 – Majority Leader Reid says it would be “foolish” for Senate Democrats to offer a budget.
May 19 – Chairman Conrad cancels a planned committee mark-up, announcing he will not reveal a budget to the public until after such time as the Gang of Six produces a proposal.
May 25 – The Senate rejects President Obama’s FY 2012 budget by a vote of 0-97.
May 23 – Senator Schumer, when asked why there is no alternative to the House-passed budget, answers, “To put other budgets out there is not the point.”
June 7 – Even some Senate Democrats become anxious about their party’s lack of a budget.
June 29 – Chairman Conrad tells Politico, “Senate Democrats have reached an agreement on a plan — just now — and we’ll be putting that out sometime soon.” (Note: the plan was never made public, but a leaked outline revealed that it contained as many as $2 in tax hikes for $1 in spending cuts.)
November 9 – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi claims that Democrats didn’t pass a budget when they controlled both chambers of Congress because “Republicans would have filibustered it,” but as she should know, budget resolutions can’t be filibustered.
January 24, 2012 – President Obama delivers a State of the Union address that falls on the 1,000th day since Senate Democrats offered a budget plan. Although the president focuses much of his criticism on “the way Congress does its business these days,” he neglects to mention Senate Democrats’ budget failures.
February 3 – Days after Chairman Conrad promised to hold a budget mark-up in committee, Majority Leader Reid declares that the Senate would not consider a budget for the third straight year.
February 12 – Current White House chief of staff (and former OMB director) Jack Lew falsely claims that budget resolutions require 60 votes to pass the Senate.
March 14 – Every Republican on the Budget Committee reminds Chairman Conrad that the Congressional Budget Act deadline for passing a budget out of committee is April 1.
March 29 – The Republican-led House passes a budget for FY 2013.
April 17 – Chairman Conrad cancels the scheduled Budget Committee mark-up for the second year in a row, a move that the New York Times reported “surprised Republicans and Democrats, who were expecting him to produce a Democratic budget that, if passed by the committee, would have been the first detailed deficit reduction plan in three years.”
April 29 – Three years pass since Senate Democrats adopted a budget.
May 10 – Treasury Department figures show that the nation has spent $10.6 trillion since the Senate’s Democrat majority last passed a budget.
Next Article Previous Article
