Thomas Daschle: “today is May 3, more than a month after the law requires a budget resolution to be reported to the Senate for debate. It…”

“today is May 3, more than a month after the law requires a budget resolution to be reported to the Senate for debate. It is 18 days past April 15, when the law requires a budget resolution to have been completed and passed. Yet, the Senate Budget Committee has not even begun to mark up a resolution. Instead, a scheduled markup has been delayed until May 8, so nothing will be done until then. Yet, the current majority has inherited a budget from the last Congress in which the deficit is declining. Its task should be easier than the task of the last Congress, which made the tough decisions that led to deficit decline. Meanwhile, although our task in the last Congress was a harder one, and we achieved it with no Republican help, we did so within the deadlines set by law. Republicans campaigned on the claim that they could cut taxes, protect defense spending, and balance the budget, all without touching Social Security benefits. That was the message heard around the country all year last year. That was the message to which Americans responded: Cut taxes, protect defense spending, and balance the budget, without affecting Social Security. Now the time is already past for the first downpayment on that promise--the budget resolution required by law. All we are hearing is the stirring sound of people changing the subject. Republicans have discovered that the Medicare Program faces challenges in the years ahead.…”