Obama's budget won't drop until April 8th

And they’ve already reneged on previously proffered ETAs, so don’t get your hopes up. From The Hill:

The April release means President Obama’s budget will be nine weeks late, as it was due by law on Feb. 4, the first Monday in February.

Republicans have slammed Obama for delaying the budget so far past the deadline.

“This indicates a troubling unwillingness to lead,” Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, said of the new delay. “It is odd to me that the president would not have a plan and want the Congress to consider it.”

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The New York Times makes President Obama’s excuses for him; he’s indisposed, you see.

But before him there was President Ronald Reagan, who exactly a quarter-century ago sent his budget to Congress 45 days late, citing the disruptions and data changes forced by the late-1987 deficit reduction deal that he had negotiated with Democrats, who controlled Congress. …

The blueprint’s arrival would follow House and Senate action over the next two weeks on their respective budgets, reversing the usual order; the president has gone first since 1921. And the delay would lend new meaning to the abbreviation for the White House Office of Management and Budget, O.M.B. — Obama’s Missing Budget.

Unlike Congressional Democrats in 1988, who expressed understanding for the lateness of Mr. Reagan’s budget, Republican leaders now are not as sympathetic toward Mr. Obama, in another sign of the current heightened partisanship. …

The current “heightened partisanship”? How about the current heightened deficits? Typically, the president produces his budget first so can Congress can work off of it in starting their own budgeting process, but not with this guy — it’s yet another opportunity to lead from which President Obama is distinctly shrinking away. Our national spending is outflanking our revenue at a historical rate, and a little bit of decisive and responsible leadership could go a long way, “but now Senate Democrats want Mr. Obama to hold off on releasing his budget until they finish work on their own this month.” Perfect.

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Update: Hem, hem. It seems that, with the exception of first-timers and Reagan’s one upset, most everybody else has managed to take that deadline pretty seriously.

President's Budget Submission

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