Why can’t Republicans enforce the budget law against Harry Reid?
If it is against the law for Congress not to pass a budget (and it is), and if Harry Reid is violating that law (and he is), then why can’t something be done about it? Why can’t Reid be charged with something? Or perhaps a lawsuit be brought?
The answer is the law requiring Congress to pass an annual budget, the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, doesn’t have an enforcement mechanism. Lawmakers are required by law to pass a budget each year by April 15, but there’s no provision to punish them, or even slightly inconvenience them, if they don’t. In Reid’s case, the Senate last passed a budget in April 2009, 1,351 days ago as of Wednesday. …
In other words, it is precisely because the budget law has no enforcement provision that Republicans believe they need some other form of leverage, in this case the debt ceiling deadline, to force Reid and his fellow Democrats to move. In addition, whatever happens in the debt ceiling standoff, it seems clear that the original budget law should be amended to include some sort of enforcement method.
Blowback
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Because they’re missing guts, a spine, and at least another part of a man’s anatomy.
rbj on January 9, 2013 at 2:22 PM
Lack of testicular fortitude.
Dead Hand Control on January 9, 2013 at 2:24 PM
So is there a debtor’s prison or something that Reid will go to for not passing a budget?
Illinidiva on January 9, 2013 at 2:24 PM
fools gold.. just like all the other things bantered about as some way for the GOP to get the upper hand on these marxists
gatorboy on January 9, 2013 at 2:25 PM
Because they see it as a great gimmick that they can now use when back in power.
cw10036 on January 9, 2013 at 2:27 PM
My question is, why aren’t Republicans making it clear to the people what’s happening every time they’re in front of a camera or microphone? No one knows about this dereliction, so why would Reid care?
Dead Hand Control on January 9, 2013 at 2:27 PM
Why can’t Republicans enforce the budget law against Harry Reid?
Because that would require a set of testicles.
ToddPA on January 9, 2013 at 2:29 PM
I’m pretty sick of the “this is something Congress should do to pay its own bills” argument when Congress isn’t even passing a budget in the first place. It doesn’t make sense to claim that Congress is racking up these bills when we can’t even point to an invoice that shows how they decided these outlays to begin with.
The Schaef on January 9, 2013 at 2:29 PM
Imagine that. Congress passed a law that applied to itself but doesn’t have any negative consequences.
gwelf on January 9, 2013 at 2:35 PM
Ladies do not behave in such a forward way.
PersonFromPorlock on January 9, 2013 at 2:36 PM
Can’t or won’t? At the very least, they should demagogue the crap out of this and other issues like the Democrats do with every issue. It’s been over THREE FRIGGIN’ YEARS! And these ball-less wonders have mostly ignored it the whole time. How the hell do they expect anyone to take this seriously if they don’t?
RadClown on January 9, 2013 at 2:40 PM
There must be some law or laws under which We The People can bring suit against this egregious dereliction of duty, no?
stukinIL4now on January 9, 2013 at 2:41 PM
That question assumes a great deal. First it assumes that the GOPe Leadership even wants to. An assumption, which once the verbal assurances that they do are stripped away and all we are left with is their actual actions, one can see with a painful clarity is completely and totally false, a fiction created to mislead and deceive their constitutes and nothing more.
All the other questions fall to the wayside after addressing that one. Whether they have the leverage, the skill or even the testicular fortitude become meaningless speculation in the face of the GOPe Leaderships documented record on the issue.
In other words, Byron, the question you should be asking is, Why don’t the Republican Establishment LEADERSHIP want to enforce the budget law against Harry Reid?
From a purely logical perspective, unless one begins their inquiry by asking the right questions, one will never arrive at the correct answers.
SWalker on January 9, 2013 at 2:52 PM
No guts no glory.
NeoKong on January 9, 2013 at 2:57 PM
Exactly!
GWB on January 9, 2013 at 2:58 PM
1974 Congress: So let’s pass a “law” that’ll make us look good and feel good, but won’t have any bearing on whether future budgets are passed, or not.
Congress sucked then – and they suck now.
Hill60 on January 9, 2013 at 2:59 PM
Beltway fossils of either stripe typically have little interest beyond keeping things business as usual and themselves in Washington.
viking01 on January 9, 2013 at 3:12 PM
Why don’t Republicans __________ ? What can’t Republicans ___________?
ddrintn on January 9, 2013 at 3:32 PM
Here’s a question: Can Congress enact a statute binding future Congresses to specific parliamentary procedures?
I’m not a constitutional lawyer, heck, I’m not a lawyer at all, but it seems to me, that while the Senate under Reid has not abided the procedures established by the Act, mostly made to tie together the various aspects of running the government — revenue, spending, appropriations (?) to various departments and programs, prioritization(?), deficits, borrowing and servicing the debt, (did I miss something), the Senate has fulfilled the function and responsibilities of it’s House, at least at the bare minimum.
As for the specific question of not passing a budget, I’d submit that passing “Let’s do what we did last year”, can be considered one. That is a separate question from the one of does Harry Reid carry out his duties in an honest and respectful manner or something of that nature.
Dusty on January 9, 2013 at 3:32 PM
Because they don’t really care?
RoadRunner on January 9, 2013 at 4:04 PM