Kate wrote: So then we agree that it is the responsibility of Congress to submit a budget bill to the President. He does not have to come up with a budget plan. The President's responsibility is to sign or veto the budget bill.
The House has passed a budget bill for 2012 - it is languishing in the Democrat controlled Senate at the moment. They should do the same for the debt ceiling. Pass the bill and send it up the chain instead of wasting everyone's time holding meetings.
If the Senate doesn't like the bill initiated by the House they can amend it to their liking and then reconcile the two versions before sending it to the president. If the Democrats and the president are as worried about default as they indicate they are they will accept the bill to avoid default and then set about fighting the next battle over the appropriation budget for 2012. If, on the other hand, they are simply using the default argument as a red herring and they truly aren't worried about the default, they will simply not allow the legislation to progress any further and then the president can decide what he wants to spend the available money on while the Senate debates and passes a bill that can then be reconciled with the version passed by the House before being sent to the president for his signature.
The main job in DC is, and has been for at least the last 100 years or so, to get reelected and consolidate more power into the folds of the federal government such that it becomes a national government instead of a federal one. That's why, and how, we find ourselves where we are today. Step by step, starting with the 17th Amendment, progressing through the executive and legislative branches threatening the judicial to bend to its combined will or else, continuing with the torturing of new meaning from the text of the Constitution to usurp power not granted in a continuing bid to hold absolute power over all matters foreign and domestic, we come to this point in time where reelection and retaining power holds precedence over the general welfare of the union.
That's progress for you........eventually, if we continue to follow this path, we will progress to becoming Greece. Won't that be a day to celebrate........
my solution? To start - ONE TERM in a row for all elected offices. That way, they are not focused on reelection while in office. Now, if they want to run again after skipping a term, that is OK
