Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Democrats don't have votes for budget



The Hill:

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Tuesday that President Obama's budget plan doesn't have enough support from lawmakers right now to win approval.

Conrad said that he has spoken to enough colleagues with reservations about several different provisions in the budget that he thinks Congress won't pass it, at least in its present form.

Conrad urged White House budget director Peter Orszag not to "draw lines in the sand" with lawmakers, most notably on Obama's plan for a cap-and-trade system to curb carbon emissions.

"Anybody who thinks it will be easy to get the votes on the budget in the conditions that we face is smoking something," Conrad said Tuesday during a hearing of the Senate Budget Committee.

...
Cap and trade will be a political disaster for Democrats if it does pass. There are other issues with this budget. They will have to take out the Cuba trade provision to get at least two votes. Then there are all the earmarks that opponents are hitting.

Update: The Washington Post reports that the budget has been passed by the Senate.

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