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Sorry for the redundant headline to this blog post. Some of the awful details about the budget resolution passed by the congressional Dems are here. Jon Henke of the Senate Republican Communications Office shares some other details:

The Republican Policy Committee concludes about S. Con. Res. 21:

FY 2008 spending: $2.96 trillion

Tax Increases: assumes $736 billion more in taxes over five years compared to the extension of current tax law.

Budget Enforcement: includes budget points of order that are designed to reduce the deficit through tax increases rather than spending restraint. 60 votes required to cut taxes, but only a simple majority is needed to raise taxes.

Discretionary Spending: provides $954 billion (after cap adjustments) in discretionary budget authority for FY 2008, which is $21 billion above the President's request.

Mandatory Spending: includes $389.6 billion for Medicare in 2008, an increase of $24 billion (+6.6 percent) over 2007. The average annual increase in Medicare spending during the five-year budget window is 5.3 percent.

QUIN TALKING AGAIN: Now will conservatives finally understand why it is utterly counterproductive to "protest" poor performance by the GOP by staying home and refusing to vote? There is a difference between bad (the congressional GOP for eight years) and worse (the congressional Dems, who are MUCH worse), and the difference is significant enough to matter a great deal for the future of this country. Conservatives who stay home are like the spoiled brat who takes his ball and goes home.

topics:
Taxes, Law, Oil, Medicare