I know I’m probably expecting too much given today’s Food Safety Bill Debacle, but I have a message for my fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill: Pass A Budget.

There are a plethora of important reasons to pass a budget, but two really stand out:

1. The next Congress will have a Tea Party-inspired Republican House and Democratic Senate, which are worlds apart ideologically. So drafting a mutually agreeable budget will be extremely difficult (at best). No doubt that the ideological gulf separating the two houses will cause Congress to miss its Fiscal 2012 budget deadline of Oct 1 2011. (Heck, Democrats have large majorities in both chambers and the 2011 budget–if passed–will be signed by the President right before Christmas.) More importantly, the likelihood of a government shutdown is quite high. And even if congressional leaders realize that a government shutdown is wrecking their reputations and decide to have honest negotiations, the easiest way to get the government back on its feet would be a long-term continuing resolution (CR). So the Fiscal 2011 budget might very well set the level of appropriations for two years. We should take advantage of that possibility.
2. I give Democrats and Obama a lot of credit for passing health care reform, but now they need to fund it. I hope my friends on the Hill realize that the Fiscal 2010 budget doesn’t actually fund any aspect of the reform (as the law had not passed yet). So, passing a CR, going home for the holidays, and leaving the budget mess for the GOP House to handle would pretty much guarantee delayed implementation of the 111th Congress’s signature achievement and hurt those most in need of health care. Not cool.

Congress is poised to pass a temporary CR, funding the Federal Governmet through Dec 18th. So you have 17 days. Get it done.