In case you missed it, the United States Senate managed to pass its first budget [1] in almost four years by a slim 50-49 vote.
The body approved a plan that relies heavily on $975 billion in new tax revenue to stabilize the growth of the national debt within the next ten years. The budget does not balance, however, and has a deficit of $566 billion in 2023.
The Murray budget contains $975 billion in spending cuts, including $275 billion in new cuts to Medicare and Medicaid spending. But it also turns off $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts scheduled over nine years. Factoring that in, the budget does not constitute a net spending cut.
This is called a “balanced” approach, nevermind that the result is continued budgetary imbalance.
Both Mark Warner and Tim Kaine voted “yes [2].”
But of additional interest, Sen. Warner won approval for an amendment that would “repeal or reduce the estate tax, but only if done in a fiscally responsible way.” The measure passed 81-19 [3].