ASHLAND —
At about the same time legislators in Frankfort were meeting in special session to enact a two-year budget that should have been approved six weeks earlier, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives were adding a new kink in the already broken budget process in Washington, D.C.
House Democrats decided to shirk a basic congressional responsibility by not even passing a budget resolution this year. It will mark the first time the House will have done so since the current budget process was put in place in 1974.
In truth, congressional budget resolutions are little more than mostly meaningless numbers on paper. They are nonbinding, and GOP-run Congresses did not pass final resolutions in 1998, 2004 and 2006. Nevertheless, the resolutions do impose benchmarks and some order and discipline in a process that constantly threatens to become a spending free-for-all.
The Senate Budget Committee passed its budget resolution in April, but it has yet to come to a floor vote. It may not do so, since the House’s inaction makes the Senate resolution irrelevant.
House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer promises that the House will enforce spending limits even stricter than what President Barack Obama proposed in his budget. Hoyer argues that it makes no sense to enact a long-term budget until the president's deficit-reduction commission makes its report in December, after the midterm elections.
That’s just a crutch. It is the job of the House of Representatives and Senate the oversee federal spending. With the federal government gushing red ink at an alarming rate, it certainly is no time for actually reducing the odds of restoring a degree of sanity to spending in Washington. But that’s exactly what the House’s action — or should we say inaction — does.
We can see why House Democrats would prefer not to go on record as voting for a document that calls for spending more than $3 trillion in fiscal 2011. Similarly, Democrats don’t want to draw attention to projections showing the government running an annual deficit of $1 trillion over the next five years or so.
Our complaints about our legislators in Frankfort over the budget process have been frequent and justified, but the problem is much worse in Washington. At least our legislators are required by the Kentucky Constitution to have a balanced budget, and that restriction prevents legislators from going on the type of reckless spending sprees that have become the norm in Washington.
In Frankfort, when spending exceeds revenue, legislators are forced to make spending cuts, as they have had to do repeatedly during this recession. In Washington, when spending exceeds revenue, Uncle Sam just borrows more money while our elected leaders hide their head in the sand and spend, spend, spend.
Maybe not approving a budget resolution is no big deal for Democratic leaders in the House, but to us, it just gives our representatives another excuse for irresponsible spending
Editorials
Shirking duty
House weakens budget process while deficits are soaring
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Focus on music
There will be no new trophies for winning marching band competitions for the Boyd County High School band. Nor will band members be spending as many summer days in the hot sun in band camp and autumn Saturdays taking long bus drives to compete in band festivals in distant communities.
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Memorial Day
Unlike our other wars, the American people were never asked to sacrifice for the war in Iraq and the one still ongoing in Afghanistan. They have been wars fought by an all-voluntary military and by the “weekend soldiers” in the National Guard and in the Army, Navy and Air Force Reserve
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Still more cuts
If you believe the cuts mandated by the two-year state budget that will take effect July 1 will have little impact on services, consider this.
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Earmarks again?
Immediately, following the midterm elections of 2010 which saw Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives and capture seats in the U.S. Senate, Republican leaders in Congress announced they had heard the voice of the voters and vowed to cease using “earmarks,” the name given to appropriations slipped into bills by influential legislators without a vote.
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Best in the nation
It may surprise many readers that Newsweek’s “best high school in America” is located right here in Kentucky and is open to selected students throughout the state, but then the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green is hardly your typical high school. In fact, it would be impossible for even the best public high schools to emulate the amazing success of students at the Gatton Academy.
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After the vote
We offer today a few reflections on the messages voters sent in Tuesday’s primary election in Kentucky.
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A mild winter
As we approach the Memorial Day weekend, long hailed as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season, we pause to reflect upon the winter that wasn’t.
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Devices banned
Emergency breathing devices that tests have proven unreliable are being phased out under a directive issued by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. However, MSHA has given mine operators more than 18 months to remove all the air packs from underground mines.
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A free weekend
In an effort to promote increased recreational use of the two lakes in the Daniel Boone National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service will offer free fishing and boating during the first weekend in June.
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Ho-hum election
Psst! Want to know a secret? There’s a primary election Tuesday. And it’s right here in Kentucky! However, there has been so little interest in this election, that Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the state’s top election official, is predicting that only betwixen 10 and 12 percent of the state’s eligible voters will take the time to go to the polls tomorrow.
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Focus on music
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