On the recordMay 25, 2011
I am glad I was on the floor to hear the distinguished Senator from Wyoming's comments about the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which is Washington, DC, gobbledegook, which translates into a rationing board which is going to limit seniors' access to care, as he so ably described. I appreciate him talking about that. It is a topic I will raise in a moment as part of my remarks. But I wish to express my appreciation to him for his remarks. My larger concern is about our budget, the Federal budget. As one of our colleagues across the aisle told the media this week, he said he looks forward to voting on the Republican budget. That may seem a little odd because this is the Senate and, actually, the Senate does not have a budget. The Budget Committee on which I serve has not met to consider a proposal by the chairman of the Budget Committee and we have not had a chance to offer amendments to vote on it and then for it to come to the Senate floor so we would have a Senate budget to vote on. Of course, what he was talking about is, he is looking forward to voting on the House budget. But I would say the Senate has not considered a budget for 750-plus days. No family, no business, no one in America, certainly no State can operate in this sort of fiscally irresponsible manner, only the Federal Government. Now where are we? We are spending 43 cents out of every $1 in borrowed money--borrowed from our kids and grandkids.…
