Why the hell didn't Pelosi/Reid pass a budget when they had the chance?

[guardian]

If we had passed a budget when we controlled both houses, President Obama would have signed it and we wouldn't be staring at the specter of massive cuts by the rethugs.

I am so disappointed.

[Mz Pip]

1. Blue Dogs

like Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln plus a few others.

Yeah, it's disappointing. A lot could have been done that's for sure.

[gateley]

2. Randi Rhodes thinks it was strategy -- that if the Republicans screwed it up

(like they're doing now) it would bode well for the Dems in 2012. That's just her opinion. It doesn't seem right to me for some reason, but who knows? There has to have been a good reason. Maybe they didn't realize they'd lose the House and figured they'd get it done "soon"?

[defendandprotect]

9. Randi Rhodes is generally really sharp about this stuff -- but obviously Dems

have long been collaborating with Repugs on many issues!!

And, Obama has been -- sadly -- leading the way!!

[krawhitham]

11. BS, we do not think that far ahead

[gateley]

17. That's kind of my thought, too. Giving us too much credit. nt

[gateley]

3. DELETE - dupe. nt

[tabatha]

4. One of the Blue Dogs

I think Blanche Lincoln, not sure, held up the vote on Obama's budget director because of oil leases or something. I am sue it can be googled.

[elleng]

5. You got it, but Landrieu.

'The U.S. Senate confirmed Jack Lew as White House budget director yesterday after Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu dropped objections that delayed the vote for two months.' Nov. 19.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-19/u-s-senate-confirms-lew-as-white-house-budget-director.html

[former9thward]

7. That has nothing to do with the budget.

It is the job of Congress to pass a budget. A budget director being held up for two months out of two years has nothing to do with that.

[tabatha]

8. A budget director has everything with coming up with a budget

that can then be presented to congress - where the haggling begins.

[former9thward]

18. No director for 2 months out of 2 years.

Did 2 months out of 2 years really stop a budget proposal from being submitted? What were the personnel in the budget office doing for 2 years? Just sitting around because there was no official director for two months? BTW if you have a copy of the Constitution you will find Budget bills come from the House. No mention of a budget director or the Executive branch in the process.

[dennis4868]

6. Remember...

You are in DU.....we don't blame congress, dems or repubs....we blame Obama for EVERYTHING!!! Get with the program (even though it's nit a rational or mainstream opinion).

[Zorra]

10. Because they would have been able to take the Bush Tax Cuts to Reconciliation

if they had passed a budget.

By not passing the budget, they lost the option to take the Bush Tax Cuts to reconciliation.

If they had passed a budget for FY 2011, they could have denied the tax cuts to millionaires but still kept the tax cuts for the middle class.

If they had passed a budget, they would have had no excuse for ending the Bush tax cuts for the millionaires and increasing federal government revenue by a projected $700 billion over a 10 yr. period.

But they didn't pass a budget for FY2011, rolled over to republicans and did not end the tax cuts for the wealthy, and lost their option to take anything at all to Reconciliation.

They had some lame excuse for not passing a budget, but it was so lame and nonsensical that I have forgotten what it was.

[Sherman A1]

12. +1, Agreed & Well Said!

:thumbsup:

[tritsofme]

14. Due to changes enacted by Democrats in 2007, you could not have run the middle class tax cuts

through Reconciliation. It massively increases the deficit outside of the ten year budget window and would not qualify.

Yes, by forgoing a budget Democrats denied themselves the opportunity to use the Reconciliation process, but it is doubtful the tax cuts could have been extended that way.

[Zorra]

16. They still could have pulled it off despite those changes.

If they had the will.

Of course, the point is moot now, they did not pass a budget resolution, so they have no option to use reconciliation at all for this FY.

[tritsofme]

20. Democrats changed the rules to specifically prohibit running unpaid tax cuts through reconciliation

It had nothing to do with "will"

Leadership thought they had their in through exempting the MC tax cuts from the statutory PAYGO law, but that still set a 60 vote test in the Senate.

Absent nuking their own rules, there was no 51 vote solution.

[guardian]

15. "lame and nonsensical"

That's a nice tactful way of putting it. I think I prefer to be more direct and just call it a colossal cluster f**k. How can we ever get a progressive agenda passed when we have idiots in the leadership that make it easy for the rethugs?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

13. It's Obama's fault! Don't you know that he's the leader of

the legislative branch?!?!


:sarcasm::sarcasm:

[BzaDem]

19. No, if we had passed a budget, we still would be in the EXACT same situation, because we didn't pass

an appropriations bill. An appropriations bill is what's required to spend -- a budget isn't signed by the President and isn't law.

Why didn't we pass an appropriations bill? Well, we tried -- Republicans unanimously filibustered it.