Tuesday, January 22, 2013

GOP wants budget; Schumer warns they will get one

FILE - This Jan. 1, 2013 file photo shows House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio walkig past reporters after a closed-door meeting meeting of House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington. The GOP-controlled House will vote next week to permit the government to borrow more money to meet its obligations, a move aimed at heading off a market-rattling confrontation with President Barack Obama over the so-called debt limit. Full details aren?t settled yet, but the measure would give the government about three more months of borrowing authority beyond a deadline expected to hit as early as mid-February, a Republican official said Friday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - This Jan. 1, 2013 file photo shows House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio walkig past reporters after a closed-door meeting meeting of House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington. The GOP-controlled House will vote next week to permit the government to borrow more money to meet its obligations, a move aimed at heading off a market-rattling confrontation with President Barack Obama over the so-called debt limit. Full details aren?t settled yet, but the measure would give the government about three more months of borrowing authority beyond a deadline expected to hit as early as mid-February, a Republican official said Friday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - This Nov. 16, 2012 file photo shows President Barack Obama, accompanied by House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, speaking to reporters in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, as he hosted a meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral leadership of Congress to discuss the deficit and economy. Most Americans think jarring economic problems would erupt if lawmakers fail to increase the government?s borrowing limit. Yet they?re torn over how and even whether to raise it, leaning slightly toward Republican demands that any boost be accompanied by spending cuts, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - This Nov. 28, 2012 file photo shows House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. walking on Capitol Hill in Washington. House Republicans say they may seek a short-term extension of the government's debt limit in the next few weeks, a move that would avoid an immediate default by the Treasury. Ryan provided no details on the duration of any extension or conditions that might be attached as he appeared at a news conference during a break at a three-day retreat of the rank and file in historic Williamsburg, Va. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - This Dec. 30, 2012 file photo shows Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. walking to a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. The GOP-controlled House will vote next week to permit the government to borrow more money to meet its obligations, a move aimed at heading off a market-rattling confrontation with President Barack Obama over the so-called debt limit. Full details aren?t settled yet, but the measure would give the government about three more months of borrowing authority beyond a deadline expected to hit as early as mid-February, a Republican official said Friday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Democrats are looking to make new revenue part of the Senate's first budget in almost four years, which will be released soon after the start of President Barack Obama's second term.

Obama has pushed for a "balanced approach" to solving the nation's financial woes, including more tax revenue.

Republicans for years have complained bitterly that Senate Democrats last produced a comprehensive budget in 2009 and say that, if Obama and fellow Democrats want to borrow more money, they'll have to outline a spending plan.

Senate Democrats announced Sunday that they will oblige and produce a budget ? but warned it will include higher taxes that Republicans oppose.

"We're going to do a budget this year," Schumer said hours before Obama officially began his second term. "And it's going to have revenues in it. And our Republican colleagues better get used to that fact."

The tough talk by Schumer, the number-three Democrat in the Senate, follows House Republicans' announcement last week that they would approve a short-term increase in the nation's borrowing limit without linking that to demands for spending cuts. Democrats called it a step in the right direction but also said the extension should be longer than the three months the GOP is offering.

White House senior adviser David Plouffe said the brief extension "is no way to run an economy or a railroad or anything else" and seemed cool on the proposal. Yet he said Obama would review Republicans' ideas once they're in the form of legislation.

"We haven't seen what they're proposing, and they're going to have to pass it," he said, hinting at House Speaker John Boehner's difficulty in rounding up enough votes within his Republican caucus to pass his own party's proposals.

House Republican leaders on Friday offered Obama a three-month increase to the nation's credit card and a dodge to a looming, market-rattling debt crisis. They backed off demands that any immediate extension of the government's borrowing authority be accompanied by stiff spending cuts to confront the nation's $16.4 trillion debt.

They also added a caveat designed to prod Senate Democrats to pass a budget: no pay for lawmakers if there again is no budget passed this year. House Republicans have passed budgets for two consecutive years.

"There is no doubt the Senate hadn't done its job," said Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican and a favorite of tea partyers who was elected to his first term in November. "It's been nearly four years since it's passed a budget. And the Senate should pass a budget."

Democrats are saying they will release a budget, but it won't be what Republicans want.

Asked by ABC's George Stephanopolous whether Obama "will only sign a budget deal if it includes new revenues," Plouffe agreed.

"Yes, it's got to be balanced," said Plouffe, who expects to leave his first-floor West Wing office soon. "We need spending cuts, entitlement reform and revenue. We have to have that."

Schumer and Cruz spoke with NBC's "Meet the Press." Plouffe appeared on CNN's "State of the Union," ''ABC's "This Week" and CBS' "Face the Nation." No House Republicans appeared on the networks' Sunday morning talk shows to represent their proposal.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-21-Congress-Budget/id-2161df6c69664d1388a231e10215dfe9

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