House Passes Bill Requiring Obama Submit PLAN to Balance Budget

On Wednesday, the House passed legislation that demands President Barack Obama produce a balanced budget or submit a supplemental budget plan by April 1, 2013 that outlines how and in what fiscal year he aims to achieve a balanced budget.  

The Require a PLAN Act passed the House in a  253-167 vote, with 26 Democrats supporting the legisation. 

Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), the fiscal conservative who introduced the Require a PLAN Act, said, “there is no way our nation can secure a future of growth and opportunity if the spending habits in Washington are allowed to continue to produce massive deficits while chasing every higher spending with ever higher taxes.”

“By passing the Require a PLAN Act, the House of Representatives is taking the next step in making sure Washington puts in place a plan to balance the budget so that we can begin to pay off the debt,” Price said. “All we are asking of President Obama today is that he tell the American people when and how he would balance the budget.”

As The Hill notes, the House in January “passed a bill putting pressure on the Senate to finally pass a budget plan, under the threat of withholding Senate salaries,” and many Republicans credit that bill – the No Budget, No Pay Act – “with getting the Senate to commit to a budget this year.”

The Require a PLAN Act aims to do the same to the White House.

Democrats dismissed the plan as “stupid” and a “gimmick.” 

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) called the bill “stupid,” and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the bill was “gimmick.”