The Insanity Continues

The Senate once again proved it's inability to control spending today when they passed the highway bill by an 89-11 margin. The bill's total price tag is $295 billion, $11 billion more than the White House said they will approve. Sen. Jeff Sessions, (R-Al), submitted an amendment that would bring the bill back under budget, however only sixteen Republicans had the sense enough to vote for it. If upheld by the conference committee, the bill will go to the president, who will hopefully make good on his threat to veto any bill that exceeds it's budget.

This fiscal insanity in the Senate is really getting frustrating, for it is just another incident in what is developing into a troubling pattern from the Republican lead Senate. At a time of war and deficits, and when many of America's permanent programs need to be reformed for the twenty-first century, it is irresponsible for the Senate to continue to break the budget. While America's roads certainly need more funding and improvement, the government has to prioritize how it allocates it's limited funds. The boys in Washington have to come to grips with the fact that there is only so much money that is available to spend, and we can't spend more than is allotted no matter how much it might seem justified.

Furthermore, while this bill certainly reflects poorly on the majority of Republicans in the Senate who voted for it, it is also a condemnation of Senate Democrats. We hear a lot from them about how Republicans and the president spend too much and are the culprits for the current deficit, yet when actual cuts are proposed the Democrats stand tooth and nail against them. Not one single Democrat voted in favor of the Session's amendment that would bring this bill back in budget, and they also voted against the '06 budget that had other spending reductions. When it comes to fiscal responsibility, the Democrats' actions and their rhetoric simply don't match.