Senate approves budget measure
Balanced-budget plan is similar to one passed earlier by the House.
— Republicans WASHINGTON muscled a balanced-budget plan through the Senate early Friday, positioning Congress for months of battling President Barack Obama over the GOP’s goals of slicing spending and dismantling his health care law.
Working into Friday’s pre-dawn hours, senators approved the blueprint by a near party-line 52-46 vote, endorsing a measure that
closely follows one the House passed Wednesday. Both budgets embody a conservative vision of shrinking projected federal deficits by more than $5 trillion over the coming decade, mostly by cutting health care and other benefit programs and without raising taxes.
The Senate began a spring recess after approving the measure, leaving Congress’ two GOP-run chambers to negotiate a compromise budget in mid-April. The legislation is a non-binding blueprint that does not require Obama’s signature but lays the groundwork for future bills that seem destined for veto fights with the president.
“Republicans have shown that the Senate is under new management and delivering on the change and responsible government the American people expect,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Democrats viewed the document differently, saying it relied on gimmickry and touted the wrong priorities.
“The budget we passed today is irresponsible and fails to effectively invest in our future,” said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.
The budget’s solidly ideological tenor contrasted with a bipartisan bill the House overwhelmingly approved Thursday, permanently blocking perennial cuts in physicians’ Medicare fees. It too will wait until April for final congressional approval by the Senate, with McConnell saying his chamber will handle it “very quickly when we get back.”
Though doctors face a 21percent cut in Medicare fees April 1, the government can delay processing those payments until Congress’ return.
The measure, which also provides money for health care programs for children and low-income people, would be partly financed with higher premiums for top-earning Medicare recipients.
On the budget, only two Republicans voted no: Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, a pair of presidential hopefuls. Two other potential GOP presidential candidates, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, voted yes.
All voting Democrats were opposed. Congress’ GOP budgets both matched the spending plan that Obama presented last month when it comes to defense, proposing $612 billion for next year, a 4.5 percent boost over current levels. Some conservatives were unhappy because they wanted more of the extra military spending to be offset with savings from elsewhere in the budget.
But mostly, the Republican blueprints diverge starkly from Obama’s fiscal plan.
While his leaves a projected deficit exceeding $600 billion 10 years from now, the Senate plan claims a surplus of $3 billion. Over the decade, Obama would raise $2 trillion through higher taxes from the wealthy, corporations and smokers while granting tax breaks to low-income and middleclass families. He would boost spending on domestic programs including road construction, preschools and community colleges and veterans.
The Senate budget would cut $4.3 trillion from benefit programs over the next 10 years, including annulling Obama’s health care law, a step the president would without doubt veto.