GOP attacks House Democrats who voted against every budget

Republicans are attacking a group of Democrats who didn’t vote for any of the five budget proposals on the House floor last week, saying they “failed the most basic responsibility of governing.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) sent out missives with images of a blank check to the districts of 21 Democrats, many of them Blue Dogs in competitive districts.

“Mike Ross has failed the most basic responsibility of governing by failing to even vote for a budget over the last two years, let alone see one passed,” the NRCC said in one statement targeting Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), the co-chairman of the conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition.

“While Arkansas families are tightening their belts and living within their means during these tough economic times, it’s a wonder why Ross is unwilling to force his party in Washington to do the same.”

Republicans criticized Democrats in 2010 for not passing a full budget. Lawmakers considered the official GOP and Democratic proposals on Friday, along with alternatives from the conservative Republican Study Committee, the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus. Only the GOP budget passed, although Democratic leaders have said it will not pass the Senate.

Three Republicans — Reps. David McKinley (W.Va.), Walter Jones (N.C.) and Denny Rehberg (Mont.) — also opposed all five options.

Ross and other Blue Dogs criticized the GOP proposal, authored by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (Wis.), for trying to “privatize” Medicare.

A spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Jesse Ferguson, responded: “House Republicans are the last people who should be lecturing about budgets after they voted to end Medicare and raise health care costs for seniors, rather than choosing to end taxpayer giveaways for Big Oil companies making record profits or tax breaks for the ultra rich.”

This post was updated at 1:34 p.m.

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