Congress to Skip the Budget Process — a Transparency Problem at the Very Least

You are required by law to file your taxes by the end of the day tomorrow, and you get penalized if you don't. Meanwhile, Congress will not meet its April 15 requirement to pass a budget resolution. The budget resolution is the plan for FY 2011 revenue and spending that dictates the amounts in forthcoming annual spending bills.

It's an understatement to say that skipping the annual budgeting process is a transparency problem. It's a management problem, a spending problem, a leadership problem, a responsibility problem . . .

More commentary and a timetable of the congressional budget process is on the WashingtonWatch.com blog. Politico broke the story (so far as I can tell). Reuters quotes Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) saying, "We're going to go full speed ahead" with the budget.

You have until the end of the day tomorrow, senator.