John Cornyn: “I rise to mark another sad record for the Senate: 1,387 days since the Senate has passed a budget--1,387 days. The last…”

“I rise to mark another sad record for the Senate: 1,387 days since the Senate has passed a budget--1,387 days. The last time I checked the 2012 election was over, and of course it has been over for more than 3 months now. Unfortunately, the President still seems to be very much in campaign mode, giving speeches all around the country. For the time being, what we need, rather than a President on a perpetual campaign, is for Democrats and Republicans to work together to try and solve some of our Nation's most pressing problems, and there is no more important issue than our national debt. Unfortunately, the President, after extracting about $600 billion in new taxes as a result of the fiscal cliff negotiations, is still coming back to the well, and he is calling for tens of billions of dollars in new spending. At a time when we ought to be talking about bending the cost curve down, trying to rein in wasteful Washington spending, the President wants to spend more, and he wants to raise taxes to do it. Perhaps worst of all, we know the promises we made to our seniors for Medicare and Social Security are imperiled. Unless we act together to save and protect Social Security and Medicare, they are on a pathway to bankruptcy, and that is irresponsible and wrong. I am tempted to describe President Obama's spending and tax ideas as small ball, but they are worse than that.…”