On Monday, President Barack Obama missed the legally-required February 4th deadline to submit his annual budget. Four out of five of Obama’s budgets have been submitted late.
Republicans pounced. “President Obama missed a great opportunity today to help our economy,” said Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on the House floor. “This was supposed to be the day he submitted his budget to the Congress. But it’s not coming. It’s going to be late. Some reports say it could be a month late.”
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) also sounded off on Obama’s failure to turn in his budget on time. “I’m disappointed the president has missed his deadline. But I’m not surprised. In four of the last five years, he’s failed to submit his budget on time.” Ryan’s office previously noted that Obama has missed more budget deadlines than any president since the 1920s.
Boehner and Ryan’s comments are part of a new GOP effort to take the fight to Obama on the budget and prove that the president, not the Republican Party, is the roadblock to achieving fiscal balance.
The White House is aware of the public’s disdain for last-minute deals and blown deadlines. During the fiscal cliff negotiations, for example, Obama got out in front of the issue and blamed Republican recalcitrance for the need for a down-to-the-wire deal. “America wonders why it is in this town why you can’t get stuff done in an organized timetable,” said Obama. “Why everything has to always wait until the last minute. We’re now at the last minute. The American people are not going to have any patience for a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy.”
“Let’s not miss this deadline,” Obama said. “That’s the bare minimum we should be able to get done.”
But now, Republicans are eager to inform voters that it is President Obama, not them, who is responsible for delaying the nation from crafting and passing a budget.
The Democrat-led Senate has not passed a budget since 2009.
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