The U.S. Senate has not passed a budget resolution since 2009. Not only has the Democratic majority failed to approve a blueprint in over 1,000 days but it has not even proposed one in that time. Senate Republicans are launching an uphill effort to advance their own budget priorities as they see debt piling up and time running short. Utah Sen. Mike Lee is one of the leaders in this effort. He says Democrats apparently hope they can avoid accountability by failing to produce a budget but Sen. Lee contends the current fiscal path is unsustainable. Lee says multiple GOP budget plans are headed to the Senate floor, including proposals from the likes of Rand Paul of Kentucky and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. For his part, Sen. Lee is offering the “Saving the American Dream” plan. He explains to us how he would balance the budget within five years, partly be using means testing for entitlements and increasing the age of eligibility for Medicare and Social Security. Lee would scrap the estate tax and payroll tax and most deductions. He would then simplify most of our tax bills down to taxes on income and consumption. He says simplifying the tax code that way would not only pay for government operations but also give Americans a much better idea of how much government spends. Sen. Lee is not predicting any breakthroughs in the Democratic Senate but he says with votes starting today there will be a constant push toward more fiscally responsible government in Washington.
