$3.55 Trillion FY 2010 Budget Approved By Democrats

Apr 29: In a solid showing of unity, not one Republican voted for the final approval to the fiscal year 2010 budget conference agreement (S.Con.Res. 13). In the House 233 Democrats voted in the 233-193 passage; and in the Senate 53 Democrats voted in the 53-43 passage. According to a Senate Democratic release, the five-year fiscal plan preserves the major priorities in President Obama’s budget plan. It makes investments in energy, education and health care. It provides significant middleclass tax relief for those making under $250,000. And it cuts the deficit by two-thirds by 2014.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) said, “Passage of this budget sends a clear signal that Congress, working in concert with President Obama, is moving forward on a new agenda for the country. The public spoke last November with their vote for change. Elected leaders spoke today with their vote for changing the nation’s priorities. We have adopted the President’s priorities of reducing our dependence on foreign energy, promoting excellence in education, and setting the stage for fundamental health care reform.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said, "In terms of energy, in this first 100 days, an article in Fortune magazine of April 29th states that, ‘this is the greenest budget ever.’ The Obama $3.55 trillion dollar budget is a one-two punch for clean-tech. It boosts funding for renewables while slashing tax breaks for fossil fuels. Obama’s wish list -- now this is another organization called ‘Climate Progress’ — ‘Climate Progress’ calls the Obama wish list the ‘first sustainable budget in U.S. history.’ This is in addition to the initiative that was passed early on in the recovery package, known as the stimulus package -- it’s called ‘Greener Stimulus.’ Signed in February, the stimulus package is chalk full of clean-tech goodies with $43 billion dollars in grants for clean power, extensions of tax credits for solar wind, geothermal and energy efficiency programs, smart-grid funding, weatherization programs, and a new tax credit for clean-tech hardware manufacturing."

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) spoke on the House floor in opposition of Democrats’ $3.6 trillion budget which he said, "spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much from future generations." He said, "...What we see before us is a budget resolution that is nothing short of the most audacious move to a big socialist government in Washington, D.C., than anything I could have ever dreamed about before I ran for Congress, or for that matter, anytime over the last 18 years that I’ve been here. Budgets are supposed to be about tough decisions, and there are no tough decisions in this budget, because when you look at the document, what it does, it’s real simple. It spends an awful lot of money, it raises a lot of taxes, and it puts all of this debt on the backs of our kids and our grandkids. This is not the American way. . ."

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made a statement regarding the Democrats’ budget saying, “While families across the country are tightening their belts and carefully watching every dollar, Congress is on a trillion-dollar spending spree. . . Americans don’t understand how a giant expansion of government will help create or preserve jobs, or why the same Democrats who showed strong support on the Senate floor for Republican proposals to protect small businesses and middle class taxpayers, dropped those proposals once behind closed doors. Massive spending and crushing debt are not the answers to a recession, and neither are tax hikes on working families and job creators.”

Access a 4-page overview of the conference agreement (click here). Access the complete 48-page conference agreement (click here). Access links to extensive information on the budget conference agreement (click here). Access a statement from Senator Conrad (click here). Access a statement from Speaker Pelosi (click here). Access a House Democratic release with links to information and videos (click here). Access the floor speech and video from Republican Leader Boehner (click here). Access the statement from Senate Republican Leader McConnell (click here). Access the Senate roll call vote (click here). Access the House roll call vote (click here). Access legislative details for S.Con.Res. 13 (click here).