A Senate where Shame, Spending, and Inertia Rule

J.D. Foster / March 08, 2011

The federal government ran a budget deficit last month of $223 billion, according to recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). With deficits consistently running to levels almost beyond human comprehension, it would be easy to miss the fact that this was the largest single-month deficit on record.

So, what are Congress and President Obama doing about it? The House of Representatives took the first step to get deficit spending under control by passing a Continuing Resolution to fund the government for the rest of the year for $61 billion less than 2010. A good first step, but lest anyone miss the big picture, this cut was equal to about one week’s worth of deficit spending in the month of February. Truly an example of the old saw that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

As the Senate was too busy taking another recess to pass its own bill to fund the government for the rest of the year, the House then passed a bill to fund the government for two weeks—and cut spending by $4 billion in the process. At the last minute, the Senate woke up and passed the bill, too. (more…)