So, in a rarity that not one person would ever have foreseen happening, a budget was passed. A real budget was passed–not just some continuing resolution that will only continue the previous budget and prevent shutdown. CNN’s article, In a Rare Bipartisan Action Congress Approves a 1.1 Trillion Dollar Budget, highlights the important gains and losses of both parties in this budget. But here’s my question: Congress that has had such a difficult time passing anything–I remember reading a statement by a noted Congressman stating that this Congress is so divisive that they wouldn’t be able to pass the 10 Commandments if they tried. How could this budget get passed in only 4 days? That’s staggering for any budget bill, even if the Congress wasn’t so divided.
I have a theory. Do you remember that budget shutdown? I really believe that Congress doesn’t want that to happen again. And I believe even more that these Congressmen and -women want to keep their jobs. It may not be a Presidential election year but it is a congressional election year; 33 Senate seats will be up for reelection and, according to multiple sources, all 435 members of the House are up for re-election. The Congress has to prove that they can work and that they can do the basic constitutional function of a Congress. Americans can get a clean sweep of the House of Representatives this year and I think that Congressmen and -women are afraid that the voters people will take advantage of that. What do you think?
