A Conservative's Musings on All Things Political

While at some time today it will become clear if a deal is reached on the FY2011 budget, the media rhetoric is out of control and straight from the White House talking points. We need to keep in mind that this is the Fiscal Year 2011 budget which for the federal government began October 1, 2010.  Already are half way through the fiscal year and congress and the president are only now coming to an artificial faceoff over the budget. Shame on all of them. How would my mortgage company (or yours) respond if I waited more than 6 months into my year to get my financial house in order? It is the President and Congress’s job to get a budget in place and if there is going to be a deadline it should be September 30, the day before a Fiscal Year begins. Its time a government ran like any other institution and if there is no budget in place, it should close down on October 1^st, period. The first step in restoring fiscal stability to our country is to force government to get things done on time like the rest of us.

All the hyperbole coming from the talking heads on cable news today is focused on how the Republicans in congress are playing chicken with the President and the nearly invisible Senate democrats. Forgotten is the fact the drama of today is the direct result of the total failure of the 111st Congress to get a budget in place by October 1^st 2010 when FY 2010 began. Forgotten is the 111st Congress was controlled by strong Democrat majorities in BOTH the House and Senate as well as having a Democrat in the white House who would sign anything they sent him. Moreover, the commentators forget the Senate Democrats had one of the largest majorities in the past century. The current situation is a direct result of

the failure of the democratic leadership to get its job done before it went off to campaign for the November 2010 elections. Indeed Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) laid out the democratic strategy in an open mic moment of honesty when he laid out the Democrat strategy to blame the Republicans for any shut down. Seems the media loved chuck’s strategy so much they are singing his song today, in harmony.

What the people of the United States need is a budget on time. Let’s have the political arguments in full view of the people in the months leading up to the beginning of the fiscal year. If Congress and the President cannot meet one of their core responsibilities, let the people pass judgment upon them at the voting booth. I am not a big supporter of legislating by way of the Constitution, but it may be time to say the government must have a budget in place by the beginning of the fiscal year, period.  Today we are simply getting a demonstration of what is structurally wrong with Washington. The American people deserve better.