David Obey: “I would point out I wrote dissenting views to the Department of Defense bill that the majority brought to this House.…”

“I would point out I wrote dissenting views to the Department of Defense bill that the majority brought to this House. That bill is $19 billion over last year and it is $5.1 billion above the President's request. Not with my vote, but with his. The Labor HHS bill, at this point, the document being worked on in conference, is $2.5 billion over the President's request. The point we are trying to make is very simple. The majority party indicated earlier in this year that it was going to insist on its budget resolution. We made the point at that time that it was not realistic; that the Congress would wind up spending much more money than that, and that they ought to fess up earlier rather than later. Now what has happened is that on bill after bill the majority party is throwing away the budget limitations, but we have no idea what limitations are replacing them. In other words, we are now acting in Congress the way the Congress acted before 1974 with the passage of the Budget Act.”