Democrats delivered another gift on the President's 100th day: their approval for his gigantic $3.4 trillion budget plan. Republicans, on the other hand, were not in a giving mood. Every last one of them voted against the resolution in the House (233-193) and Senate (53-43). Interestingly, four Democratic senators (Arlen Specter, Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh, and Robert Bryd) and 17 Democratic congressmen joined the GOP in opposition. Adopting the budget in its current form means that the statutory limit on the national debt automatically spikes by $925 billion to a whopping $13.0 trillion. Congressional Quarterly also makes the point that "debt subject to the statutory limit will grow to $17.0 trillion by fiscal 2014." As of yesterday, the national debt stood at $11.2 trillion. Apart from the price tag, the most troubling aspect of the resolution is that the majority party used the reconciliation process to silence future debate on major overhauls to health care and education. These rules allow the leadership to ramrod policies through Congress by a simple majority instead of 60 votes. So much for the White House's promise of "transparency... as the touchtone of this presidency." (frc.org)
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