Legacy of the Pelosi Majority

One of the last pieces of legislation passed by the 111th Congress before adjourning last week was a hastily crafted funding bill to keep the government functioning until March 2011. In keeping with most of the legislation produced under Pelosi's majority, it is fiscally irresponsible, haphazardly constructed, and out of touch with the priorities of mainstream Americans.

Devoid of any attempt to control costs, the funding bill is just the latest reminder that -- more than two years after the recession began -- the Democratic majority has failed not only to cut spending but also to complete even the most basic budget tasks required by law. The economic crisis has led to near 10 percent unemployment, belt-tightening among American families, urgent austerity measures in governments around the world, and vocal demands for spending cuts -- culminating in a landslide election that swept liberals from power. But you'd never know it from looking at House Democrats' record in 2010.

While the Republican record on spending is far from perfect, deficits have exploded during four years under a Democrat-ruled Congress. In 2006, at the end of 11 years of Republican control, debt was just 36.5 percent of GDP. After consecutive years of Democrats' trillion-dollar deficits, federal debt now stands at 64 percent of GDP -- the highest it has been since World War II.

Although balancing the budget is more important now than ever, Democrats in Congress didn't even write a budget this year. This is unprecedented. Since the Congressional Budget Act was passed in 1974, the House of Representatives has never failed to pass an annual budget framework for the federal government until this year -- the final year of Nancy Pelosi's speakership.

Nor did Congress get the opportunity to vote on annual appropriations bills. The appropriations process is a vital responsibility by which Congress examines, debates and approves spending priorities for all government programs and agencies through a series of 12 separate bills. This year, not a single one of the 12 bills was signed into law. Since the fiscal year ended on September 30, the majority has submitted one temporary funding resolution after another to avoid a government shutdown.

Fortunately, the Democrats' plan to roll all 12 appropriations bills into one and pass them as a 1,900-page, pork-filled omnibus spending package at the last minute was thwarted by strong opposition from the American people and Republicans in Congress. With hours remaining before the expiration of the previous temporary bill, Democrats cobbled together one more makeshift spending resolution to last until March.

Like the ones before it, this latest stopgap funding measure maintains spending at the record-high levels from the previous budget year. This is basically government spending on auto pilot -- with no opportunity to scrutinize the budget for wasteful, unnecessary spending. House Republicans introduced legislation that would cut spending to 2008 levels, but the outgoing Democratic majority rejected the plan in favor of the budget-busting status quo.

The good news is this temporary spending bill is the last act of fiscal malpractice the Pelosi majority will commit. The American people have spoken, and the new Republican majority is committed to putting a stop to runaway spending as soon as the new Congress convenes in January.

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