Is the sky is falling?

 I am in shock. I actually agree with something Rep Lauren Boebert said.

She is right that our nation's system of budgeting is broken and has been for a long time. A 1990 law set the first Monday of February as the date by which the President must submit their budget proposal to the Congress. 

President Clinton's first budget proposal was 66 days late. President George W Bush's first budget was 63 days late. President Obama's first budget was 94 days late. President Trump managed to get his first budget in only 38 days late. President Biden set an all-time record for tardy submission of a budget with it having been 116 days late. This year, President Biden's budget was submitted on March 9th. That was 31 days late.

It is not entirely a president's fault that we've been governing by continuing resolutions since 1997. Nor it entirely the fault of the president that we have not had a balanced budget for over 20 years. The proposal submitted by the president is a blueprint that changes very much after its submission.  

Nonetheless, there are hard deadlines involved here. The budget of the United States runs from 10/1 to 9/30 each year. When a month or two or three is removed because the president's proposal is not submitted when it is due, it makes the process more strained.

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How can we fix these problems? There are no consequences for a president who submits their budget late. What consequences could be imposed?  Loss of a day's pay? Something else? 

What consequences could be imposed on the members of Congress who do not enact the full budget (it is made up of 12 separate appropriations bills) on time? If it were my call, members of Congress would lose a full day's pay AND benefits for each day the budget is not passed by the deadline.

How much time does Congress waste on crafting continuing resolutions because they cannot pass a budget on time? Goodness knows that the propensity for a number of members of Congress focus much more time on social media than on the real issues. 

Fix this problem. Now!