Party of No→
via jasencomstock, think4yourself, azspot:
Paragons of fiscal discipline, every Senate Republican today voted against reestablishing “pay-as-you-go” budgeting rules that mandate that any new spending must be paid for. The rule passed on a 60-40 party line vote.
Oh this is rich. The background, for non-experts like myself: “The PAYGO or pay-as-you-go rule compels new spending or tax changes to not add to the federal deficit. New proposals must either be “budget neutral” or offset with savings derived from existing funds. The goal of this is to require those in control of the budget to engage in the diligence of prioritizing expenses and exercising fiscal restraint.”
It was originally enacted in 1990 under Bush #1, extended twice under Clinton and is at least partly the reason behind the budget surplus of 1998 (the first since 1969).
