For the first time in 92 years, Congress will act on a budget before seeing a plan from the President, which by law is due by the first Monday in February each year. In fact, this is the fourth time in five years that President Obama has missed the deadline. At a moment for leadership, repeated delays ignore the urgency of reducing America’s $16.7 trillion debt.

$1.5 Trillion in Tax Increases

Over the past several days, Senate Democrats and House Republicans have put forward two very different budget proposals with very different outcomes for America. The Republican plan, introduced by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), would balance the budget by 2023 and promote job creation through pro-growth tax reform. The budget from Senate Democrats, unveiled by Senate Budget Chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.), would raise taxes by $1.5 trillion over the next decade and grow the size of the government by nearly 5 percent per year, without ever balancing the budget.

Federal law requires Congress to pass a budget resolution by April 15 every year – a basic obligation that Senate Democrats have failed to meet since 2009. Under the No Budget, No Pay Act, which was signed into law earlier this year, the salaries of congressional members will be withheld if a budget agreement is not reached in the House and Senate by that date.

Insufficient Debate

One would expect the budget process to involve lengthy deliberation and debate, as the budget committees in Congress craft a blueprint of the government’s spending priorities. That has not been the case this year, despite calls from Senate Republicans to Chairman Murray for sufficient time to evaluate the first budget proposal from Senate Democrats in four years. Instead of encouraging extensive and thoughtful debate, Chairman Murray scheduled the committee vote within 48 hours of the budget’s introduction.

As a member of the Budget Committee, I was able to offer amendments to the Democrat-led budget plan during its consideration in committee. One of my amendments would repeal the President’s health-care law and prevent its $1.8 trillion in new spending. Another would make it more difficult for the federal government to use unfunded mandates to shift additional financial burdens to state and local governments. Given the absence of real and lasting reforms in Senate Democrats’ proposal, amendments provide a valuable opportunity to put responsible measures in place that would guide America toward a sustainable economic future.

Too Much Spending

After four years, it is disappointing that Senate Democrats have not produced a plan that achieves meaningful deficit reduction. Their tax-and-spend policies fail to make government bureaucracy less wasteful, hurting American families and small businesses. Unchecked government spending on broken entitlement programs will continue to drive the federal debt skyward. By 2021, America will spend more paying off interest on the debt than on our national defense.

How we address the country’s long-term debt is as much a financial matter as it is a moral one. Without sensible action, the burden of crushing debt risks squandering the potential prosperity of future generations. Now that Democrats and Republicans have put their ideas on the table, a bipartisan willingness to make tough decisions should follow.

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