Perdue & Collins on the budget

Georgia’s Senator David Perdue and 9th District Congressman Doug Collins have teamed up in an op-ed setting forth three guiding principles to fix the broken budgetary process. The Real Clear Policy piece that appeared yesterday, points out that the approved budget was on time in only 4 years out of the last 43.

The lawmakers believe there is bi-partisan responsibility:

The American people are fed up with Washington — and rightfully so. Both parties are responsible for this pathetic budgeting record and for its byproduct: a staggering $20 trillion debt. It’s time to forge a new path.

The continual breakdown in the prescribed process has produced 179 continuing resolutions to keep the government open and operating over the same 43 years. The ongoing uncertainty coupled with mandatory spending approaching 70% has produced what some military experts cite as the “greatest threat to our national security”.

While the specifics are now unidentified, Perdue and Collins set out these three guiding principles to get the process back on track:

The budget resolution should be a law; every dollar being spent should be included in the budget; and there must be real consequences for failure to fund the government on time.