02/24/2009 - Bayh calls budget process broken (Indianapolis Star)

Bayh calls budget process broken

By Maureen Groppe
Gannett Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- The federal government needs a new budget process, Sen. Evan Bayh said Monday after participating in a round-table discussion at the White House on how to address the nation's long-term fiscal challenges.

"I don't think you can expect the same cast of characters operating under the same rules to produce a different outcome," Bayh said.

The Indiana Democrat was one of more than three dozen members of Congress who joined outside experts at the White House's fiscal responsibility summit. Bayh was in a group that discussed the federal budget process.

Some participants advocated for a commission that would come up with a budget plan that Congress could approve or disapprove, but not tinker with.

Others said Congress can't abdicate its fiscal responsibility.

Rep. David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who heads the House Appropriations Committee, said the president should lock everyone in a room with three bottles of gin until they agree on a plan to reduce the deficit.

"I'm an old-fashioned guy," Obey said.

Bayh said he advised requiring the government to measure how well money is being spent and to "scrutinize every item in the federal budget for savings (and) efficiencies."

Rep. Mike Pence, the No. 3 GOP leader in the House, joined other House GOP leaders Monday in calling for a federal spending freeze.

In a letter to House Democrats, the Republicans said Congress could figure out a way to ensure that essential government functions continue without cuts while keeping a lid on total spending for the rest of the fiscal year.

Lawmakers are about to take up a $410 billion spending measure left over from the last Congress.

The bill includes the nine spending bills Congress was supposed to pass before adjourning last year to keep the government running through September. Lawmakers have had to pass temporary measures, keeping spending in place at last year's levels. House Republicans argue they should just continue to do so while working on next year's budget.