On the recordJuly 29, 2010
I rise in opposition to this ill-advised rule. Number one, we have a rule that is allowing us to somehow consider an appropriations bill before we even have a budget. There is no budget, Madam Speaker. My friends on the other side of the aisle, the Democrats, don't even want a speed bump as they drive down the road to national bankruptcy. We're supposed to have a budget before we have appropriations bills. And, in fact, I think the Democratic chairman of the Budget Committee said it best when he said, If you can't budget, you can't govern. Well, according to the House Budget Committee, clearly the Democrats cannot govern. This year will mark the first time in history that the House has failed to even consider, much less pass, a budget, and yet we have a rule allowing us to spend yet more of the people's money. It also marks the second year in a row where the Democrats have chosen to bring these bills under closed rules. I, myself, had six different amendments. And when we're spending the people's money, the people's representatives ought to be heard. None of my six amendments will be heard, Madam Speaker, because the Rules Committee decided they would have a closed rule and they didn't want to hear from my amendments.
