BY STEVE BELL

     The secret that was never a secret  is out—no appropriations bills will pass Congress and be sent to the President before the start of the 2011 fiscal year October 1. 

   Of course, almost no one in Washington ever believed that the bills would be done on time.  It has become normal for many if not most of the spending bills to be done in a series of continuing resolutions, omnibus appropriations bill, and other maneuvers.

     But, perhaps we have become inured to this “new normal,” and fail to appreciate the ramifications of failing to do the basic work of the Congress.

     The course for this year was set when the Democratic leaders in the House decided not to even try to craft a Budget Resolution for FY11.  House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer admitted as much when he said that the prudent course was to wait until the President’s commission on fiscal matters made its report the first week of December.  Because individual appropriations bills cannot come to the Senate floor without the spending allocations implied in a budget, anyone who tried to bring a spending bill to the Senate floor would be stymied by Senate rules.

     So, here we are, about six weeks before the November mid-term elections.  Democrats are worried about losing the House and maybe even the Senate, although that seems very unlikely.  They don’t want to even be here in Washington, for the most part, let alone vote for spending bills that will add money to already astonishing deficit projections.  Republicans, on their own, cannot do anything about the situation, although they are insisting on a variety of spending ceilings in order to let the appropriations process go forward.

   Congress in all likelihood will probably not complete action before the elections on the expiring Bush tax cuts, either.

     Step back and imagine what the average informed, well-read American thinks about all this:  Congress really only has to do two things, when all is said and done—pass spending and revenue bills.  And, it cannot even do that because fear rules Congress right now.  No wonder Congress has sunk so low in the opinion of 75 per cent of voters surveyed. 

     Perhaps it is not the fear of “big” government that causes such disdain; perhaps it isn’t even the fear of a stupid government.  But, Americans have a right to fear a government that cannot even put together a budget.               

Editor’s Note: Steve Bell is now a Visiting Scholar at the BiPartisan Policy Center and a consultant to financial firms.  He was Staff Director of the Senate Budget Committee when the Reagan Revolution budget was enacted, was appointed by President Reagan to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board and was a Managing Director of Salomon Brothers for 10 years.