An exhausted Senate gave pre-dawn approval on Saturday to a Democratic $3.7 trillion budget for next year that embraces nearly $1 trillion in tax increases over the coming decade but shelters domestic programmes targeted for cuts by Republicans in the House of Representatives.
While their victory was by a razor-thin 50—49, the vote let Democrats tout their priorities. Yet it doesn’t resolve the deep differences the two parties have over deficits and the size of government.
The vote came after lawmakers laboured through the night on scores of symbolic amendments, ranging from voicing support for letting states collect taxes on Internet sales to expressing opposition to requiring photo identification for voters.
The Senate’s budget would shrink annual federal shortfalls over the next decade to nearly $400 billion, raise unspecified taxes by $975 billion and cull modest savings from domestic programmes.
In contrast, a rival budget approved by the Republican-run House of Representatives balances the budget within 10 years without boosting taxes.
That blueprint by Paul Ryan, the Republican party’s vice presidential candidate last year claims $4 trillion more in savings over the period than Senate Democrats by digging deeply into health care and food benefits for the poor and other safety net programmes. It would also transform the health care programme for older Americans into a voucher-like system for future recipients.
“We have presented very different visions for how our country should work and who it should work for,” said Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee. “But I am hopeful that we can bridge this divide.”
