Steny Hoyer: Dems won't pass a budget, but may raise taxes.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said this week that, because of deficit concerns, House Democrats will not pass a budget this year. 

“It isn’t possible to debate and pass a realistic, long-term budget until we’ve considered the bipartisan commission’s deficit-reduction plan, which is expected in December.”

This announcement comes from the same man who, in 2006, when Republicans were working to pass a difficult budget, said this:

“House Republicans are now on the cusp of failing to meet the most basic responsibility of governing – enacting a budget.”

So Democrats will fail this year to “meet the most basic responsibility of governing – enacting a budget,” but don’t worry.  Hoyer has an idea for lowering the national debt.  What is his idea?  You guessed it: raise taxes.

On the same day that he announced that House Democrats will not approve a budget this year, Hoyer also said that the extension of the Bush middle class tax cuts due to expire at the end of the year may need to be only temporary.

"As the House and Senate debate what to do with the expiring Bush tax cuts in the coming weeks, we need to have a serious discussion about their implications for our fiscal outlook, including whether we can afford to permanently extend them before we have a real plan for long-term deficit reduction."

It's good to know that Democrats always have a plan.