Some points on the budget resolutions that have passes the House and the Senate:
- A few House Democrats defected from the Democratic position, but a larger number of House Republicans voted “no” on the GOP leadership’s “April Fool’s” budget.
- In the Senate, Bill Nelson and Evan Bayh bucked the party and joined with the GOP.
- I’ve heard some see this as an act of political cowardice on Bayh’s part, but I think that’s wrong. Obama carried Indiana. There are many Senate Democrats in more vulnerable states who voted “yes.” Bayh just made a decision of conscience and principle to stand with Mitch McConnell and Jim DeMint on the most important domestic policy vote of his career.
- It’s not clear to me where this leaves the Bayh Bunch of “practical” moderates, since virtually none of its members followed their leader.
- A staggering nine Senate Democrats backed the Lincoln-Kyl giveaway to inheritors of states worth over $7 million.
Needless to say, the House and Senate versions of the budget are different so there’ll have to be a conference committee and then more votes.
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