Should the US Government Have a Budget?

When asked about this issue by ABC correspondent Jake Tapper, the White House Press Secretary, said this:

TAPPER: So therefore, the Senate should pass a budget as well.

CARNEY: I don’t have a –

TAPPER: I’m asking.

CARNEY: Well, I don’t have an opinion to express on how the Senate does its business with regards to this issue. The fact is because of the negotiations over the debt ceiling that resulted in the Budget Control Act, we have an unusual situation here in that the top lines for the budget going forward have already been set and agreed to by Republicans and Democrats alike.

TAPPER: So the — I’m not actually asking your opinion, but the White House’s opinion, because it’s the White House’s –

CARNEY: Well, I mean, I don’t have a –

TAPPER: The White House has no opinion about whether or not the Senate should pass a budget? The president’s going to introduce one. The Fed chair says not having one is bad for growth. But the White House has no opinion about whether-

CARNEY: I have no opinion — the White House has no opinion on Chairman Bernanke’s assessment of how the Senate ought to do its business. What the president believes is important is that the Budget Control Act that was signed into law by him last year provides the top line spending caps for the coming budget, and he will obviously meet those in the budget proposal he puts forward. And he looks forward to the Senate acting on the policy initiatives contained within his budget that will reflect the priorities he laid out in the State of the Union and also will reflect the priorities he laid out when he put forward his deficit and debt reduction proposal back in September.

Whoa! Why is this a question that you need to "dance around"? Is it controversial to say "Yeah, Jake, the opinion of the White House is that we would like a Budget for the Federal Government". Who would have a problem with that? Isn't that what Congress does? I'm pretty sure they even have committees and stuff for the budget. They're called the "Senate Budget Committee", and they even have  a snazzy website.

I kind of have an opinion. It's....that we should have a budget. If the Senate doesn't do a budget, I have a question for all the Senators:

Emergency Action Message to GOP

Did Gingrich really just say he would subpoena SCOTUS Justices to have them "explain themselves" to Congress, and that the President and Congress get a "veto" of opinions they don't agree with? It sounds like the "historian" needs to read the Federalist Papers:

Whoever attentively considers the different departments of power must perceive, that, in a government in which they are separated from each other, the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; because it will be least in a capacity to annoy or injure them. The Executive not only dispenses the honors, but holds the sword of the community. The legislature not only commands the purse, but prescribes the rules by which the duties and rights of every citizen are to be regulated. The judiciary, on the contrary, has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society; and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments.

As far as Jackson ignoring the Supreme Court is concerned: He was wrong to do so, and he later changed his mind on the issue when the politics suited him. Lincoln ignoring Ex parte Merryman  was also wrong in hindsight. Gingrich is saying really stupid sounding things, and the only think I can guess is that he's hoping to win over the "I hate the lawyers" vote. Great.

And Romney is just the guy who says anything he needs to get elected. (Sound familiar?)

Hey GOP, the Iowa caucuses are just around the corner, and you still have some things need to be taken care of.

Don't make me force you to come in to work on a Saturday.