Budget debates reveal chinks in support for plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — House and Senate passage of companion budget plans gave President Barack Obama and his Capitol Hill allies a key victory, but the debates also exposed vulnerabilities in the president’s agenda.

Obama’s Democratic allies passed plans broadly supporting the young administration’s agenda of higher spending on domestic programs such as education and overhauling the health-care system. The $3.6 trillion House plan passed by a 233-196 vote Thursday.

But 20 House Democrats, mostly from GOP-leaning areas, abandoned Obama on the final vote due to unhappiness over deficits. Even after modest cuts to Obama’s budget, the House plan predicts a $598 billion deficit in five years. The Senate plan projects a $508 billion shortfall.

The Senate approved its budget 55-43 late Thursday. Only two Democrats — Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska — voted against the plan, along with all 41 Republicans. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., did not vote.

Budget resolutions are nonbinding blueprints that set goals for future legislation.

In the Senate, Obama lost a symbolic but politically resonant vote on lowering the estate tax, while votes on several GOP amendments demonstrated broad uneasiness with his global-warming initiative. Votes there also dealt a blow to his plan to help pay for his health-care initiative by reducing the tax benefits wealthier people take on itemized deductions such as charitable gifts and mortgage interest.

At the same time, the debate also exposed political weaknesses in his House GOP rivals. House Republicans had even more defections on their alternative budget, losing 38 of the chamber’s more moderate members in a 293-137 tally that rejected cuts to Medicare and the Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled.