[tomder55]

You know he hasn't gotten a single vote on any of his budgets.

McConnell called Reid's bluff and asked that the President's plan come up for a vote . Reid still hasn't taken the President's budget off the dusty shelves of the do nothing Senate.

[talaniman]

The senate has voted for a fiscal cliff plan, but it's the house who must start legislation and send it to the senate. That's the law, so its up to your boy bonehead to submit something, either counter offer, or some legislation. Plain and simple.

He better get with Nancy and count the votes of the ones with reasonable common sense because I doubt the tea party will go along with letting the rich peoples taxes go up. Financial disaster or NOT.

Rebooting the financial system is NOT something I trust to right wingers who want to destroy the government, and replace it with a rich guy and his corporate buddies. That is what the last election was about wasn't it?

Don't be mad because YOU guys picked the wrong 47%.

[speechlesstx]

I don't hate anyone. I'm not too find of liberal hypocrisy though.

[tomder55]

The senate has voted for a fiscal cliff plan, but it's the house who must start legislation and send it to the senate. That's the law, so its up to your boy bonehead to submit something, either counter offer, or some legislation. Plain and simple

BS .The Repubics have passed a budget every year and that is where it died when the Senate refused to take it up . Reid is excrement that needs to be flushed.

[speechlesstx]

BS .The Repubics have passed a budget every year and that is where it died when the Senate refused to take it up . Reid is excrement that needs to be flushed.

Indeed, the Senate refuses to take up House bills.

House Republican leaders Wednesday reiterated their demands that the Senate take up fiscal cliff legislation as they remain no closer to finding the votes within their conference to pass a bill of their own.

After a 2 p.m. conference call with his leadership team, Speaker John Boehner’s office released a joint statement with other Republican leaders in which House Republicans once again sought to lay the blame for a lack of action on the Democratic-controlled Senate.

"The House has acted on two bills which collectively would avert the entire fiscal cliff if enacted," the statement read. "Those bills await action by the Senate. If the Senate will not approve and send them to the president to be signed into law in their current form, they must be amended and returned to the House."

"Once this has occurred, the House will then consider whether to accept the bills as amended, or to send them back to the Senate with additional amendments," the statement continued. "The House will take this action on whatever the Senate can pass, but the Senate first must act."

[excon]

Hello again,

It's like we're describing TWO different worlds.

When I was a kid and learned HISTORY, I was BLOWN away to find out that there was DIFFERENT version of history. But, I said to my young self, how can that be? What HAPPENED, HAPPENED, didn't it??

Now, I SEE how that can be. I don't UNDERSTAND it, and never did, but I see there IS, indeed, an alternate view of the universe.

Do you have special glasses? Or do you REALLY put tin foil on your heads?

excon

[talaniman]

House republican blaming everyone but themselves why they can not do their job. Leave it to the right to spin it as the senates fault for rejecting ideological BS!!

That's THEIR job, and they did it.

[speechlesstx]

What part of history are you missing here?

Fact: the House has passed two bills on the fiscal cliff.

Fact: the Senate has not acted on them.

Fact: the Senate has not passed a budget in over 3 years.

Fact: Obama's last two budgets went down 196-0.

Prove me wrong.

[talaniman]

What part of history are you missing here?

Fact: the House has passed two bills on the fiscal cliff.

Nobody but you guys want to keep the bush tax cuts for the rich while cutting benefits for old and poor people. Thats a fact and thats what the election was about.YOU guys ignore the last election results.

Fact: the Senate has not acted on them.

Because they were BS and goes against the will of the people.

Fact: the Senate has not passed a budget in over 3 years.

Not the formal one but they have been paying the bills and have a structure in place for spending. Lack of knowledge about the government process is biting you guys in the butt. The budget numbers are on line and so is the process for operating without a budget.

Fact: Obama's last two budgets went down 196-0.

A procedural tactic built into the congressional rules and a straw man talking point for wingers without a clue.

Prove me wrong.

Don't have to as you haven't understood the nuances of governance from the beginning nor the illogic of your position

[tomder55]

YOU guys ignore the last election results.

Yes I recall how willing the Dems were to work with President Bush's agenda in 2005.

Fact: Obama's last two budgets went down 196-0.

A procedural tactic built into the congressional rules and a straw man talking point for wingers without a clue.

What strategy was the purpose for that Senate Dem "procedural tactic" ? I'll tell you since you won't admit it . It was a ploy Reid crafted to make sure no one held the Senate Dems accountable for a vote they took.

Bottom line is that the only way that a plan will be passed is if the Repubics completely surrender to the will of the President . But you guys call that 'compromise' .

[speechlesstx]

Don't have to as you haven't understood the nuances of governance from the beginning nor the illogic of your position

And back to insulting my intelligence.

Quite frankly, you have no idea what my position is. I don't believe I've stated one and quite often tend not to any more because you libs will assign me a position no matter what I say.

[talaniman]

Naw you don't get to back right wing people and policies and then distance yourself from them when called. I am not insulting your intelligence at all but do question your political logic. That shouldn't surprise you when you describe my logic as straw arguments.

Nor you ignoring the results of the last election where you lost a few local seats and we won a few national ones. Consensus and compromise won, and doing nothing LOST.

If you guys weren't so scared of being eaten by your own in the next election, we would have a grand deal and a logical path back from the 12 years YOU guys have wasted hollering about what ever you can pronounce, and screwing things up and blaming others.

No I have no faith that the TParty or the rest of the right wing minority can govern fairly, or effectively. Obviously more of my fellow Americans agree with me, than with YOU!

[speechlesstx]

One doesn't have to distance themselves from positions they never took.

[earl237]

It's pretty sad that Republicans are letting a guy named after a Sesame Street puppet treat them like his puppet, how ironic.

[paraclete]

How is it that a party that is not in power can put together and pass a budget, seems somewhat strange to me

[tomder55]

The Constitution says that all revenue bills must originate in the House of Representatives (Article I, Section 7 ).The President is supposed to present a budget that the House acts on . The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, requires the President to submit to Congress annually a proposed budget for the federal government.

After the House passed a budget (which they have done every year that the Repubics have been the majority ) then the Senate is supposed to vote on it .(The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 provided for the annual adoption of a concurrent resolution on the budget as a mechanism for facilitating congressional budgetary decision making. )
There is where the system has broken down . Reid has not allowed the passed budget to come up for a vote in the Senate. If he did ,then the next step would be a conference committee between the two houses to hash out a bill together.. That compromise bill would then be sent to the President to sign .

[paraclete]

I suppose what I am really asking Tom is how can your government continue to function if no budget has been passed?

We too have a system where money bills originate in the House of Representatives and where there is a minority in the Senate differences of opinion are thrashed out, but we also have a system where the government cannot spend money which has not been appropriated. In 1975 supply was refused and the government was forced to an election.

As an example our budget has expanded 20% in the past four years, this would not have been possible under your system

[tomder55]

They pass these phony continuous spending resolutions and constantly deal with working around the debt limit that their inaction on the budget creates .

[paraclete]

So in fact a budget has been passed, it is just an older version and what is not agreed to are recent changes the Republican Party would force on the government

[excon]

Hello again, tom:

they pass these phony continuous spending resolutions

They? THEY?? Who is "they"? Pursuant to your post above, I assume "they" are House Republicans. Or, they're the SENATE which doesn't do squat WITHOUT Republican support...

Excon