Will the Democrats pass a budget?

Will the Democrats pass a budget, now that they have won re-election, and the next election is two years away? Ace at Ace of Spades says the answer is "no."

Understand why the Democrats won't pass a budget: Because they cannot pass a budget which is both responsible (which would involve cuts to discretionary spending and, ultimately, entitlements) and politically juicy for the base (which wants spending to climb ever upwards). Since they cannot produce a document which does both, they simply pass no budget, and make contradictory promises of both responsibility and outlandish spending depending on which audience they're addressing. If they're talking to Anderson Cooper on CNN, and he's pretending he's interested in fiscal responsibility, they make noises about fiscal responsibility. When they talk to Democratic crowds, they promise that not a dime of any spending will be touched.

You can't do this if you have a budget which specifies, in precise dollar figures, what you actually plan to do. And note further the election has just passed-- if it was ever politically safe for Democrats to pass a budget, it's right now. They have nearly two full years before the next midterms. Even so, that's still not enough for Democrats.

Patty Murray (D-Wash.) confirmed Thursday that she will seek the chairmanship of the Senate Budget Committee next year but told The Hill that she cannot commit to doing a budget. This opens up the possibility that Senate Democrats will avoiding passing a budget resolution for the fourth year in a row. The last time the Senate passed a standalone budget resolution was in 2009. This past year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said a budget was not necessary because the top-line spending number for appropriations was set in the August 2011 debt-ceiling deal.

If you speak vaguely enough, you can lie flagrantly without providing strong evidence that you're lying. That's their real plan."