Budget Babble Begins

The days are longer now, both in daylight and work schedule. It is day two of the introduction of the budget resolution on the Senate floor. Last week the Senate Budget Committee “marked up” the budget introduced by the majority party (the Democrats). Senator Conrad, chair, built the budget from scratch (called the Chairman's Mark), disregarding much of what was in the budget introduced by President Bush last month. Then committee ranking member Gregg (who had been chair for the years the Republicans were most recently the Senate majority party) found fault with all of the assumptions of the Chairman's Mark. And so on down the line with the rest of the committee members.

I heard support, grandstanding, spin, accusation, worst case assumptions, vagueness, bluster, sarcasm, repetition, much talking “at” each other, nit picking, hypothetical extremes, speech making and earnestness. And they weren’t even being televised yet! I kept track of the amendments offered in committee, some of which were even accepted, such as a pediatric dental initiative.

This week it’s all on C-SPAN, so much more of the same. And all of last week’s amendments which failed in committee will likely be introduced on the floor for consideration of the full Senate anyway. I’m still keeping track of introduced amendments, although rather than just 18 (introduced last week in committee), I’m expecting 50X as many. The Senators who introduce these amendments often solicit support in advance from colleagues (sent around by their staff as a “dear colleague” letter invitation, with a deadline).

Rather than have members vote on each amendment as they are introduced, the Senate will “stack” the votes – likely for this Thursday, called the “vote-arama.” Good thing, too, as most of the members are talking to a relatively empty chamber. There are committee meetings, hearings, briefings, caucus luncheons, and the usual Senate business all week, in addition to the budget being considered on the floor.

Committee and caucus staff are circulating emails galore with information countering the accusations of the opposing party, emails soliciting support for pending amendments, information with Q/A to help with constituent and media questions, and even advance copies of those fancy charts that you see being held up while a Senator has the floor.

I received a new television to put right on my desk in my office cubby, to watch the deliberations on the floor, in committee, or (as I’ve seen in other offices) Oprah. It does make it easier to work at the computer and listen for amendments being introduced at the same time. It’s also helpful to listen to my Senator giving testimony while I work, so I can better learn his positions and perspective as I represent him in constituent meetings.

Constituents continue to come, petitioning their government. Some groups are colored coded (the bright green students, the pink ladies, “wear red” day, etc.). I often meet with groups who want to talk about health issues, what bills or policies they want the Senator to introduce or co-sponsor, or just what their problems are that require a solution. My favorite “ask” was last week from a young boy with a health condition who wanted the Senator to work on a time machine.

Spring has sprung here in D.C. Daffodils are in bloom, the birds are chirping away, and the college students are in short sleeves. Many more cyclists commuting to work, too. I hope to soon, as well. The Senate office staff are even starting to think about softball. Apparently it’s a big thing for the staff on the hill.

Question: why are the Senate female staffers disproportionately blond? I couldn’t help but notice.