During the second week of March, a number of monumental events took place in Washington, D.C. While the entire world watched as white smoke appeared out of the Vatican, the President was in the U.S. Capitol visiting with House Republicans for the first time in two years. It was in this same week that Senate Democrats and House Republicans released their budget road maps, and not to be outdone, the House Ways and Means Committee released a substantial discussion draft for small business tax reform.
For the past five years, we have heard about how Senate Democrats have annually failed to produce a budget, and since it was first introduced three years ago, House Republicans have been repeatedly blasted for “ending Medicare as we know it.” In one of the greatest ironies, a document that has neither the force of law nor requires the President’s signature, also is often the leading piece of campaign fodder used each year.