Senate passes fiscal 2009 budget resolution along party lines
Measure would cap discretionary spending at $1.013 trillion, $21 billion more than President Bush requested.
The Senate by a 48-45 vote approved a compromise fiscal 2009 budget resolution Wednesday that would cap discretionary spending at $1.013 trillion, $21 billion more than President Bush requested. The House is expected to take up the measure Thursday.
If approved by both houses, it would be the first time since 2000 that Congress has approved a budget resolution in an election year. Senate approval of the budget included the vote of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who is expected to be the Democratic nominee. His rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, did not show up for the vote. Presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona also did not vote.
Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who oppose the budget, agreed to withhold their votes, also known as pairing, so that the absence of two ill Democratic senators who support the budget would not affect the outcome. Warner agreed to pair his vote with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, who is recovering from surgery on a brain tumor and preparing to undergo chemotherapy, while Domenici paired his vote with Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who was hospitalized this week after feeling feverish. He is expected to remain in the hospital for several days for monitoring and treatment for a mild infection. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine, were the only Republicans to vote in favor of the resolution. Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana was the only Democrat to vote against measure.
After the vote, Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., praised the action. "We have passed a fiscally responsible budget today," he said. "This plan provides tax relief for the middle class. It makes critical investments in energy, education and infrastructure. And it returns the budget to surplus in 2012 and 2013. Passing this budget represents a major accomplishment." The budget, which includes a five-year horizon, is intended to achieve a surplus of $22 billion in 2012 and $10 billion in 2013. The proposal also calls for $340 billion in tax cuts, including permanent extension of the 10 percent income tax bracket, increased childcare tax credit, elimination of the marriage penalty and fixing the estate tax at 2009 levels. A number of so-called reserve funds have been included in the budget for energy and infrastructure spending. But this funding must be offset if enacted.
Republicans lambasted the budget in part because they contend it includes a record tax increase since it assumes some of the tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 would expire. "For the second year in a row, the Democratic majority has crafted and passed a tax-and-spend budget -- one that most Americans can't afford as they struggle with a slowing economy and rising food and fuel costs," Senate Budget ranking member Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said during debate.
Gregg and OMB Director Jim Nussle were also critical because the budget's $1.013 trillion discretionary figure would be the first time it has ever surpassed $1 trillion. They pointed out that the budget does not curtail entitlement spending, including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.