Congress approves 2010 budget plan

Obama,who took office in January after eight years of the Republican Bush presidency,has said the Democrats’ budget is critical to turning around the recession-hit US economy and paving the way for sweeping healthcare,climate change and education reforms he hopes to push through Congress this year.

Obama,traveling in Europe,issued a statement praising the votes as “an important step toward rebuilding our struggling economy.” Vice President Joe Biden,who serves as president of the Senate,presided over that chamber’s vote.

Democrats in both chambers voted down Republican alternatives that focused on slashing massive deficits with large cuts to domestic social spending but also offered hefty tax breaks for corporations and individuals.

“Democrats know that those policies are the wrong way to go,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters. “Our budget lays the groundwork for a sustained,shared and job-creating recovery.”

But Republicans have argued the Democrats’ budget would be a dangerous expansion of the federal government and could lead to unnecessary taxes that would only worsen the country’s long-term fiscal situation.

“The Democrat plan to increase spending,to increase taxes,and increase the debt makes no difficult choices,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner. “It’s a roadmap to disaster.”

The budget measure is nonbinding but it sets guidelines for spending and tax bills Congress will consider later this year.

BIPARTISANSHIP ABSENT AGAIN

Obama has said he hoped to restore bipartisanship when he arrived in Washington but it was visibly absent on Thursday.

The House approved its budget by a vote of 233-196 with no Republican support. Hours later,the Senate approved its version 55-43,with all Republicans and two Democrats voting against it,Senators Ben Nelson and Evan Bayh.

Democrats and Republicans have quarreled for weeks over who was to blame for the massive government deficits. The fiscal 2009 deficit is expected to hit a record $1.8 trillion before ebbing to $1.4 trillion next year.

Obama had pledged to cut the deficit in half by 2013 but his budget was criticized for raising the deficit by $9.3 trillion over 10 years. So lawmakers pared it back,dropping a signature tax break and approving only vague language on some of his major spending initiatives like healthcare reform.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad said Obama had “inherited” a federal debt that doubled during Republican President George W. Bush’s two terms.