The U.S. Senate rejected motions to proceed with considering four draft budgets for the 2012 fiscal year yesterday. Democratic leaders scheduled the vote primarily to get Republicans on the record supporting the budget that passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives last month. That blueprint, also known as Paul Ryan’s budget, foresees big changes to the Medicare program and became a central issue in Tuesday’s special election in New York’s 26th Congressional district.
Senator Chuck Grassley voted for two out of the three Republican proposals on the table, including the Ryan budget, while Senator Tom Harkin voted against all three GOP budgets as well as President Barack Obama’s budget blueprint.
Details on the votes and proposals are after the jump.
Senators voted down a motion to proceed with considering the House Republican budget first, 57 to 40. Grassley was among the 40 Republicans who voted yes, but all Senate Democrats plus five Republicans voted against the motion. Four of the Republicans were moderates troubled by Ryan’s Medicare reform plans, while Rand Paul voted no because he did not think the House budget cut spending deeply enough. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made clear last week that he was not whipping his caucus to vote for the House budget.
In a press release, Harkin hailed the Senate’s rejection of the Ryan plan. Grassley’s statement on the Senate floor before yesterday’s votes slammed Democrats for having their “heads in the sand” on the need to address Medicare’s fiscal problems. Harkin’s comments and a lengthy excerpt from Grassley’s speech are at the end of this post.
“At the insistence of Republican leaders,” the Senate then voted on a motion to proceed with considering Obama’s $3.7 trillion draft budget, submitted in February. That motion went down on a 97 to 0 vote. Alexander Bolton reported for The Hill, “Democratic aides said ahead of the vote that the Democratic caucus would not support the plan because it has been supplanted by the deficit-reduction plan Obama outlined at a speech at George Washington University in April.” Still, it looks bad for the president’s plan to get no support, especially since Senate Democrats haven’t put forward their own budget yet. That makes for a pretty good Republican talking point:
“The Senate just voted unanimously against proceeding to the president’s budget. That’s right, unanimous opposition to the president’s budget that spends too much, taxes too much and borrows too much,” said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) “Not a single Democrat voted for it. We’d vote on the Democrats’ budget, too … but they don’t have one.”
Grassley’s floor statement from May 25 hammered Senate Democrats for trying to “demagogue” on Medicare when they haven’t produced their own budget to defend: “Where is the Democrat bill? This is it so far. A blank piece of paper.”
Next, the Senate took up a motion to proceed with considering first-term Senator Pat Toomey’s budget, which in some ways is even more severe than the Ryan plan:
Over the 10-year budget, Mr. Toomey’s $900 billion cuts to “income security” programs like food stamps are far more than the $380 billion cut by the Ryan plan, according to an analysis published Wednesday by the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities The Toomey budget also assumes what the CBPP calls “seemingly fanciful estimates” of economic growth, including $1.4 trillion more in revenue than the Ryan plan with similar tax policies.
Of the three major entitlements, Mr. Toomey tackles only Medicaid, which he converts into a block grant program for the states and limits payments to them, saving $1.1 trillion. He takes Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ defense cut suggestions and assumes full withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan by 2018.
Turning Medicaid into a block grant program would be disastrous for low-income Americans who receive health care through Medicaid and for middle-income families who depend on Medicaid to pay loved ones’ nursing home bills. Nevertheless, Grassley was among 42 Republicans voting to proceed with considering Toomey’s budget. Three Republicans voted with all the Democrats present against the motion.
The last Senate vote yesterday was on a motion to proceed with considering first-term Senator Rand Paul’s draft budget. It went down on an embarrassing 90 to 7 vote. The deep cuts Paul would impose on most federal departments and agencies are too much even for most conservative Republicans. Grassley was not one of the seven GOP senators to support the motion to proceed.
Share any thoughts about yesterday’s votes or the federal budget in this thread. Getting any 2012 spending plans through this Senate will be a challenge.
Harkin press release, May 25:
Harkin: Senate Rejects Budget Assault on the Middle Class
Fiscal Year 2012 House budget would eliminate Medicare, cut education, infrastructure funding
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate rejected the so-called “Ryan budget” – a budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2012 that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in April – by a vote of 40 to 57. Since its passage, Harkin’s office has been examining its impact in Iowa in everything from Medicare and Medicaid to Pell Grants and transportation. A series of background documents can be found here. Harkin is Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the Appropriations Subcommittee that funds health, education and labor.
“Congressional Republicans have tried to justify their extreme budget by telling the American people that we are poor and broke. And the Republicans’ solution is always the same: cut taxes for millionaires while cutting Medicare for the middle class and cutting education for our kids. But the problem isn’t that we’re broke; it’s that our system is broken. Over the last three decades, the economy has doubled in size, but middle class incomes have been flat. Those at the top are cutting themselves bigger and bigger slices of the pie, and telling the middle class get by with less – less Medicare, less education, less money in pensions.
“But ordinary Americans know better. And today, the U.S. Senate rightly rejected a slash-and-burn approach to deficit reduction that was unbalanced and unfair. It’s a budget that says ‘tough luck, your own your own’ to everyday Americans who work hard and play by the rules. But this so-called “deficit reduction plan” gives yet another tax-cut bonanza to the wealthy by making the Bush tax cuts permanent and slashing the top tax rate from 35 percent down to 25 percent.
“We must bring deficits under control, but we need to do it right. We need a balanced approach that includes spending cuts and necessary revenue increases, while continuing to make crucial investments in education, infrastructure, and research – the keys to job creation and a stronger middle class.”
Excerpt from Grassley statement on the Senate floor, May 25:
SPEECHES ALONE AREN’T GOING TO SOLVE THE
BIG PROBLEMS THAT WE FACE IN THIS NATION. WE NEED SERIOUS
SOLUTIONS TO OUR COUNTRY’S VERY SERIOUS PROBLEMS. WE NEED REAL
LEADERSHIP. THE FUTURE GENERATIONS OF THIS COUNTRY SERVE NO
LESS, AND THAT’S WHAT HOUSE BUDGET CHAIRMAN RYAN HAS OFFERED,
AND THAT’S WHAT WE HAVE COLLEAGUES HERE ON OUR SIDE OF THE
AISLE LIKE SENATOR TOOMEY AND SENATOR PAUL ARE GOING TO OFFER
TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE. WHAT HAVE THE DEMOCRATS OFFERED TO
ADDRESS THE LOOMING FISCAL CRISIS?
AND THE ANSWER IS NO RESOLUTION AT ALL. SO I HAVE A BLANK PAGE
HERE REPRESENTING THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE NO PLAN WHATSOEVER.
ARE THEY GOING TO ALLOW A DEBATE SO THAT THEY CAN OFFER THEIR
IDEAS TO ADDRESS OUR FISCAL CALAMITIES?
WELL, YOU JUST HEARD THE SENATOR FROM NEBRASKA POSTULATE THAT
THAT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, THAT WE’RE HAVING A SERIES OF
VOTES, BUT THEY ARE FOR SHOW, NOT FOR REAL. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
HAVE SENT 53 DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATORS AND SENATORS HERE TO
WASHINGTON. A BUDGET CAN PASS THE SENATE WITH JUST 51 VOTES. IT
DOESN’T TAKE THE SUPER 60 VOTES THAT SO MANY ISSUES ON THE
FLOOR REQUIRE IF YOU’RE GOING TO GET TO FINALITY. SO FAR, YOU
CAN SEE THAT THEY HAVE SHIRKED THEIR RESPONSIBILITY. NOTHING.
IT’S BEEN MORE THAN 750 DAYS SINCE SENATE DEMOCRATS OFFERED A
BUDGET. WHAT’S THE DELAY?
I WANT TO ASK THEM WHERE IS YOUR BUDGET?
I SUPPOSE THEY’LL ARGUE THAT OUR NATION’S FISCAL SITUATION
DOESN’T REQUIRE A BUDGET. OR PERHAPS THEY HAVE SIMPLY RUN OUT
OF IDEAS TO ADDRESS OUR DEFICITS AND OUR DEBT. ADMIRAL MIKE
MULLEN, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, SAID EARLIER
THIS YEAR THAT OUR DEBT, MEANING OUR NATIONAL DEBT, OUR
CUMULATIVE DEBT, IS THE GREATEST THREAT TO OUR NATIONAL
SECURITY. SURELY, THE SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP WOULD WANT
TO PUT AN HONEST PLAN FORWARD TO ADDRESS THAT THREAT. THEY
DON’T EVEN WANT TO DEBATE A BUDGET. THIS EXERCISE IS A MOTION
TO PROCEED TO A NUMBER OF BUDGETS, NONE OF WHICH WERE WRITTEN
BY THE DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY. I GUESS THEY INTEND TO VOTE AGAINST
PROCEEDING. THEY DON’T WANT TO EVEN DEBATE A BUDGET. WELL, BY
THIS TIME, MOST OF THE TIME IN THE LAST 35 YEARS, WE HAVE HAD A
BUDGET THROUGH THE UNITED STATES SENATE. INSTEAD OF LEADING,
THEY WOULD RATHER DEMAGOGUE THE SERIOUS EFFORTS PUT FORTH BY
REPUBLICANS. THEY ARE NOT GOING TO STAND AND DEFEND THE
DEFENSELESS BUDGET THAT THEIR PRESIDENT SUBMITTED TO CONGRESS
JUST THREE MONTHS AGO. THEY’RE NOT GOING TO WRITE THEIR OWN
BUDGET. IT’S STILL BLANK. THEY’RE NOT EVEN GOING TO VOTE TO
ALLOW DEBATE ON BUDGETS THAT WERE DRAFTED BY OTHERS. SO ARE WE
WITNESSING A LEADERSHIP FAILURE SIMILAR TO THE ONE THAT SENATOR
OBAMA REFERRED TO IN 2006 IN HIS SPEECH HERE ON THE SENATE
FLOOR?
THE DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY WOULD RATHER DEMAGOGUE MEDICARE THAN
PRODUCE AND DEFEND THEIR OWN BUDGET. I PRESUME THERE IS A LOT
OF SPEECHES IN THIS TOWN TODAY. DEMOCRATS HITTING THEIR CHESTS,
SAYING WE RUN A SPECIAL ELECTION IN NEW YORK STATE YESTERDAY
BASED UPON THE FACT THAT REPUBLICANS WANT TO KILL MEDICARE.
WELL, I WANT TO PUT FORTH THE FACT THAT IF YOU DO NOTHING AS
THE TRUSTEES HAVE SAID RECENTLY, THERE ISN’T GOING TO BE ANY
MEDICARE IN NINE YEARS. I CAN PUT FORTH AMPLE EVIDENCE THAT IN
OBAMACARE, THAT BILL PUTS MEDICARE ON A PATH TO RATIONING OF
MEDICARE AND REDUCING THE NUMBER OF DOCTORS THAT ARE GOING TO
TAKE MEDICARE PATIENTS. SO ALREADY MEDICARE IS ON A PATH TO
DESTRUCTION IF WE DON’T INTERVENE AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT,
AND THE SOONER WE INTERVENE, THE BETTER, AND WE OUGHT TO BE
INTERVENING NOW IN A BIPARTISAN WAY INSTEAD OF ALL THE TALK
ABOUT PARTISANSHIP AND DESTROYING IT JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE —
THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE IN THIS CONGRESS WHO KNOW THAT MEDICARE
IS A PROBLEM, AND THE SOONER YOU DEAL WITH IT, THE EASIER IT’S
GOING TO BE TO DEAL WITH IT. MEDICARE IS A VERY, VERY IMPORTANT
PART OF AMERICA’S SOCIAL FABRIC. IT WAS INTENDED TO BE THAT IN
1966, AND IT’S STILL THAT TODAY. AND I INTEND TO WORK TO MAKE
SURE IT STAYS TO BE A PART OF OUR SOCIAL FABRIC. IT’S A
COMMITMENT MADE TO SENIORS TODAY AND TO PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT
SENIORS TODAY YET. IT IS A COMMITMENT MADE TO ALL FOR THE
FUTURE. SO IT’S VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE AS STEWARDS OF THE
MEDICARE PROGRAM TAKE SERIOUS OUR CHARGE TO MAKE SURE IT
REMAINS FOR FUTURE SENIORS. WITH THAT IN MIND, I COME HERE TO
CALL OUT THE MOST DANGEROUS THREAT TO MEDICARE — TO A MEDICARE
PROGRAM THAT WE FACE ON THE FLOOR THIS WEEK. AND LET’S BE
CLEAR. IT’S NOT THE BUDGET RESOLUTION AUTHORED BY CONGRESSMAN
PAUL RYAN AND PASSED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. THE MOST
SERIOUS THREAT TO THE MEDICARE PROGRAM THIS WEEK IS TO THOSE
WHO PROPOSE TO DO NOTHING OR OFFER NO PLAN WHATSOEVER FOR
SAVING MEDICARE. MR. PRESIDENT, DOING NOTHING IS THE MOST
SERIOUS THREAT TO MEDICARE. FOR ALL THE TALK ABOUT KILLING
MEDICARE AS WE KNOW IT, THE DEMOCRATS’ DO-NOTHING BUDGET THAT I
HAVE HELD UP HERE SO OFTEN, THE DO-NOTHING BUDGET IS THE SUREST
WAY TO KILL MEDICARE AS WE KNOW IT. THE FOLKS COMING TO THE
SENATE FLOOR WITH NOTHING IN THEIR HANDS BUT CRITICISM OF THESE
BRIEWGZ THEN ARE IRRESPONSIBLE. BY ATTACKING THE HOUSE BUDGET
RESOLUTION WHILE PROPOSING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, THE DEMOCRATS
ARE PLUNGING THEIR COLLECTIVE HEADS INTO THE SAND LIKE THESE
OSTRICHES SOMETIMES ARE DESCRIBED AS DOING. OSTRICHES ACTING
LIKE EVERYTHING WITH MEDICARE IS JUST FINE AND THAT NOTHING IS
A VIABLE — AND DOING NOTHING IS A VIABLE OPTION. LET’S LOOK AT
THE FACTS. LAST WEEK, THE C.M.S. ACTUARY — AND THAT’S A
PROFESSIONAL PERSON, THAT’S NOT A POLITICAL PERSON, BUT HE’S
THE PRESIDENT’S ACTUARY — SUBMITTED HIS ANNUAL REPORT ON
FISCAL HEALTH OF MEDICARE — THE MEDICARE PROGRAM. FRANKLY, HIS
CONCLUSIONS ARE VERY DISTURBING. THE ACTUARY CONFIRMS THAT THE
MEDICARE PROGRAM IS ALREADY CONTRIBUTING TO THE FEDERAL
DEFICIT. IT IS SPENDING MORE THAN IT TAKES IN, AND IT WILL
CONTINUE TO DO SO THROUGHOUT THE COMING DECADE. THE ACTUARY
FOUND — THIS PROFESSIONAL PERSON, THIS PERSON THAT IS THE
PRESIDENT’S ACTUARY, FOUND THAT THE MEDICARE WILL RUN OUT OF
MONEY BY THE YEAR 2024, FIVE YEARS FASTER THAN HIS PROJECTION
LAST YEAR. FOR THE SIXTH STRAIGHT YEAR, THE REPORT ISSUED A
FUNDING WARNING SHOWING THAT THE MEDICARE PROGRAM IS TAKING A
DISPROPORTIONATE SHARE OF ITS FUNDING FROM GENERAL REVENUE,
THUS CROWDING OUT PROGRAMS LIKE DEFENSE AND EDUCATION. THE
SITUATION IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. IN 1965 WHEN MEDICARE WAS
CREATED, BABY BOOMERS RETIRING TODAY WERE THEN JUST TEENAGERS.
TODAY, WE HAVE 10,000 BABY BOOMERS RETIRING EVERY DAY, WITH
FEWER AND FEWER WORKERS PAYING INTO MEDICARE TO SUPPORT THESE
ADDITIONAL RETIREES. THE AVERAGE COUPLE TURNING 65 TODAY PAID
OVER $109,000 INTO MEDICARE OVER THEIR LIFETIME BUT WERE
RECEIVE OVER $343,000 IN BENEFITS. NOW, STOP TO THINK ABOUT
THAT. EVERYBODY WONDERS WHY MEDICARE MIGHT BE IN TROUBLE TODAY.
THE AVERAGE PERSON RETIRING TODAY HAS PAID IN $109,000 BUT WILL
RECEIVE ABOUT $343,000 IN BENEFITS. THAT JUST DOES NOT ADD UP
AS A SUSTAINABLE PROGRAM. AND ANYBODY WHO SAYS THAT YOU DON’T
HAVE TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT MEDICARE, IT WILL TAKE CARE OF
ITSELF, WELL, YOU CAN SEE HOW MISLEADING THEY ARE. MEDICARE WAS
CREATED, THE AVERAGE AMERICAN — THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN 1966.
THE AVERAGE AMERICAN LIVED TO BE AGE 70. TODAY, THANKS TO
INCREDIBLE ADVANCES IN MEDICAL CARE, THE AVERAGE AMERICAN LIVES
TO BE 79. THESE ARE THE FACTS. SO NOW, KNOWING THESE FACTS, IS
THE TIME FOR CONGRESS TO RECOGNIZE THE REALITY OF MEDICARE’S
FISCAL CRISIS AND NOT JUST RECOGNIZE IT BUT RECOGNIZING IT,
DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT. PUT SIMPLY, MEDICARE IS UNSUSTAINABLE
WITHOUT SERIOUS, THOUGHTFUL ACTION, AND THIS BLANK SHEET OF
PAPER WITHOUT A BUDGET BEING OFFERED IS NOT A SERIOUS,
THOUGHTFUL ACTION. TO SAY OTHERWISE IS TO IGNORE THE FACTS AND
TO STICK YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND. THE RYAN BUDGET AS IT RELATES
TO MEDICARE HAS BEEN — HAS HAD MUCH DISCUSSION LATELY. IT IS
SIMPLY A BLUEPRINT. A BUDGET — EVEN IF THIS PAGE WERE FILLED
IN, A BUDGET NEVER BECOMES LAW, NEVER GOES TO THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES. IT’S A DISCIPLINE FOR THE CONGRESS OF THE
UNITED STATES. IT DOES NOT BECOME LAW. SO ANYBODY THAT SAYS
THAT VOTING FOR A BUDGET IS VOTING TO DO SOMETHING TO MEDICARE
IS CRAZY. IT’S NOT EVEN BECAUSE ACTUAL POLICY, AS WE KNOW, IS
GOING TO BE DETERMINED BY OTHER COMMITTEES OTHER THAN THE
BUDGET COMMITTEE. IN THE HOUSE, MOST OFTEN THE WAYS AND MEANS
COMMITTEE. IN THE SENATE, THE SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE. THAT’S
THE COMMITTEES THAT WRITE THE BILL THAT YOU CAN SAY WHAT’S
HAPPENING OR NOT HAPPENING TO MEDICARE. ANYONE HERE TELLING THE
PUBLIC THAT IF THIS BUDGET BLUEPRINT IS ADOPTED, IT WILL BE A
LAW DOESN’T UNDERSTAND HOW THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS WORKS. BUT
THIS VOTE ISN’T EVEN ABOUT A BUDGET BLUEPRINT. THE DEBATE THAT
WE’RE HAVING TODAY IS ABOUT A SIMPLE MOTION TO WHETHER WE OUGHT
TO EVEN DEBATE A BUDGET. IF THE DEMOCRATS WERE WILLING TO
PROCEED TO AN HONEST AND OPEN DEBATE, WE COULD TALK ABOUT WHERE
WE WANT TO GO WITH THE MEDICARE PROGRAM AT THAT TIME. IF THE
DEMOCRATS ARE WILLING TO PROCEED TO AN HONEST AND OPEN DEBATE,
WE COULD DEBATE STEPS TO SAVE THE PROGRAM. IF THE DEMOCRATS
WERE WILLING TO PROCEED TO AN HONEST AND OPEN DEBATE, WE COULD
HAVE AMENDMENTS TO IMPROVE THE RESOLUTIONS AS OFFERED. OF
COURSE, THE DEMOCRATS ARE NOT WILLING TO PROCEED TO AN OPEN AND
HONEST DEBATE. I AGREE THAT CHANGING THE NATURE OF MEDICARE IS
A SIGNIFICANT STEP. REQUIRING PEOPLE WHO ARE TEN YEARS AWAY
FROM RETIREMENT TO EXPECT TO PAY MORE FOR THEIR HEALTH CARE IN
REQUIREMENT IS A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN POLICY. IT SHOULD BE
CONSIDERED, HOWEVER, THOUGHTFULLY IN THE CONTEXT OF MEDICARE’S
SERIOUS FISCAL DIFFICULTIES. THEY AREN’T GOING TO GO AWAY.
DESCRIBING THIS POLICY AS ENDING MEDICARE FOR SENIORS IS
IRRESPONSIBLE AND FACTUALLY FALSE. PEOPLE WHO ENGAGE IN THIS
TYPE OF DEMAGOGUERY ARE ENDANGERING COVERAGE FOR THE VERY
PEOPLE THAT THEY CLAIM TO SUPPORT BECAUSE THEY CONTINUE TO
PROPOSE NOTHING. WHERE IS THE DEMOCRAT BILL?
THIS IS IT SO FAR. A BLANK PIECE OF PAPER. PRODUCED NOTHING. I
HAVE GREAT RESPECT FOR THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE BUDGET
COMMITTEE. I KNOW HE HAS TRIED TO PRODUCE A BUDGET, BUT
APPARENTLY HIS LEADERSHIP THINKS THAT DEMAGOGUING REPUBLICAN
BUDGETS IS FAR MORE POLITICALLY PROFITABLE THAN STANDING BEHIND
ONE OF YOUR OWN PLAN, AND SO THEY HAVE SQUASHED ALL OF HIS
EFFORTS TO PRODUCE A BUDGET.