Dereliction of Duty

It appears that Senate Democrats, who are the majority, have decided not to even try to propose a budget. I'm guessing their reasoning goes as follows: If we propose a big spending budget we please our base but turn off independents. If we propose a deficit-cutting budget we please independents and outrage our base. If we don't propose a budget it's possible both groups will be happy.

See this post by John Hinderaker of Powerline, for details. I particularly like these two quotes, the first he cites from Dana Milbank of The Washington Post:

Although there's general agreement that the most pressing issue facing the federal government is its runaway finances, the Democrat-controlled Senate hasn't passed a budget in 762 days, a new standard for dereliction of duty.

The second Hinderaker quotes from an editorial of the left-leaning New York Times:

If Democrats are ever going to regain the momentum in the national conversation, they have to stand for something.

That's the problem with "big tent" politics; sometimes you cannot please everybody you'll need to reach a majority.