Senate Doesn’t Have the Votes to Pass Obama’s Budget

  It appears as though President Obama does not have the votes in the senate to get his budget passed. This is the best news that I have heard coming from the senate in a long, long time.

  This news is coming from the Senate Budget Committee Chairman and it is music to my ears.

“Anybody who thinks it will be easy to get the votes on the budget in the conditions that we face is smoking something,” Conrad said.

  It sounds like the cap and trade tax proposal is going to be a sticking point in the budget, he is warning Peter Orszag,  White House budget director, not to “draw lines in the sand” on this issue. There are a number of senators who feel that the impact of the increased energy costs on average Americans isn’t address in the budget.

  While the president is able to claim that he is giving a tax break to 95% of Americans he fails to mention that his proposals, such as cap and trade, are going to raise the prices of necessities on those same Americans, not only negating the tax break but exceeding it.

  There are other issues with this budget, the excessive spending during a recession is just plain irresponsible. It is about time that our senators stood up and said that this is not affordable.

  Judd Gregg is warning the president not to try to mauveur his way around the spending in this bill by attaching the items that the senate doesn’t agree with to special budget bill.

Gregg said that attaching a cap-and-trade or healthcare plan to reconciliation bills, which need only a simple majority to pass, would be an “outright act of violence” against the Senate, where most legislation needs 60 votes to advance.

  Those are harsh words, especially coming from someone who very nearly joined Obama’s cabinet.

  We can only hope that enough weak kneed Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats will hold the line and dig in on this budget proposal. It is time for the president to realize that he does not have a blank check with the taxpayer’s money. The Senate needs to hold his feet to the fire until he agrees to cut down on the spending. The country simply can’t afford this budget.

  I hope that the president will realize that it is time to cut the budget down, but I fear that the senate will end up actually adding more spending to the bill. I am afraid the senate will use this as a means to add earmarks to the senators’ states who are holding out in an effort to gain those votes. In essence, I fear that the senators who are holding out are just waiting for a little money to be thrown their way, a bribe if you will.

  I only hope that the senate isn’t using this threat as a bargainingchip to add money for their districts. I hope they are sincere about cutting down the spending in this bill. Forgive me if I am cynical.