Senate

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) on Wednesday applauded the Senate's defeat of the Ryan 2012 budget plan calling it a "dangerous budget proposal" and accusing Republicans of being on a "mission to destroy Medicare."

 “Senate Democrats defeated a dangerous budget proposal in Washington last week that would have ended Medicare as we know it,” Lautenberg said while speaking at a rally for senior citizens according to New Jersey Today. “Despite our victory, Republicans in Washington are not giving up on their mission to destroy Medicare.” Read more...

GOP Presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) made the comments during a campaign stop in Iowa.

Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) took a step back from the GOP's budget proposal on Tuesday, saying it was the start of conversation.

Boozman voted for the Republican plan when it came up in the Senate last week. The proposal, put together by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), contains a controversial provision that turns Medicare into a voucher-like system for those under the age of 55.

Freshman Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) on Tuesday expressed frustration with the glacial pace of the Senate and called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to stop “playing games.”

“I'm a little bit frustrated at times — most recently by the four votes we did regarding the budget,” Brown said in an interview with the home-state Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Brown was referring to a series of failed votes the Senate took last week on Republican and Democratic budget proposals. 

 “None of them had a chance of passing,” said Brown, one of just five Senate Republicans to vote against a budget proposal authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.). Democrats have blasted Ryan’s proposal and credit it with their victory in a special election last week for a New York House seat. Read more...

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) on Tuesday held a press conference to tout legislation he introduced that would prevent the federal government from bailing out state governments teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

"Should the federal government do that, we would first of all break historic precedent, and secondly we would put further pressure on the credit of the United States, which is already in jeopardy following the report of the S&P rating agencies," Kirk said at his Chicago office.

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) is calling for comprehensive entitlement reform.

“I think it’s absolutely clear that we have to redesign our entitlement programs,” Bennet told The Durango Herald. 

“The baby boomers are starting to benefit from entitlement programs, but there’s not enough people paying into it,” explained Bennet. 

Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) sent a letter Tuesday to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner stating that that lawmakers should not be paid if Congress does not increase the debt limit. 

“There is no reason that members of Congress and the President should be free from the pain that would be felt by our nation if the government were to default on its obligations, and if we cannot do our jobs and protect the full faith and credit of the United States, we should not get paid,” the senators wrote in the letter. 

Senate Democratic leaders intend to call up yet another non-controversial piece of legislation, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) funding bill, next month, which they believe will help create jobs, sources inside leadership told The Hill on Friday.

The Senate unanimously approved legislation late Thursday night that would make improvements to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that helps journalists and watchdogs obtain government documents.

“This bill helps bring our government one step closer to better transparency,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a co-sponsor of the bill. “This commission will identify methods to reduce delays in the processing of FOIA requests and ensure the efficient and equitable administration of FOIA throughout the federal government."