The president decided to lambaste the Democratic congressional majority this morning in his weekly radio address, accusing lawmakers of failing to do their duty when it comes to annual spending bills.
“Democrats in Congress are also behind schedule passing the individual spending bills needed to keep the Federal government running. At their current pace, I will not see a single one of the 12 must-pass bills before Congress leaves Washington for the month-long August recess. The fiscal year ends September 30th. By failing to do the work necessary to pass these important bills by the end of the fiscal year, Democrats are failing in their responsibility to make tough decisions and spend the people’s money wisely.
This moment is a test… Democrats have a chance to prove they are for open and transparent government by working to complete each spending bill independently and on time.”
Yes, it’s outrageous when Congress fails to pass each spending bill on time, isn’t it? Indeed, it seems like just last year that a Republican House, Republican Senate, and Republican White House were so dysfunctional, that they failed to pass hardly any of the necessary spending bills. Oh wait, that was just last year.
Republicans intend to conclude the 109th Congress this week and leave Democrats stuck with the tab in the form of unfinished spending bills as the days of Republican rule draw to a close on Capitol Hill.
Congressional leaders said election losses had sapped Republican enthusiasm for trying to finish nine spending measures that were due Oct. 1. Congress will instead pass a stopgap measure to keep the government running until mid-February, leaving the fiscal tangle for the new Democratic majority to sort out next year.
Following Bush’s reasoning, Republicans failed in their responsibility to make tough decisions and spend the people’s money wisely. I wonder why he didn’t complain about this a year ago?
Post Script: The AP headline on the story on Bush’s radio address reads, “Bush rips Democratic lawmakers’ failures.” Apparently, the AP was short on time, so the editors just let Karl Rove write the headline for them.
