Where are we in Washington?  Try this:   As you well know, the Democrat Senate has not passed a budget in three years, over 1000 days.  And it seems as though that isn’t going to change any time soon.

Yet again, Democrats in the Senate have refused to prepare a formal budget for 2013.  To side-step the issue, Kent Conrad, the chairman of the Democrat-controlled budget committee, will introduce his own draft budget to the committee.  But that’s about where it ends.  No votes on the budget will actually be scheduled.  In other words, this isn’t a serious attempt to pass a budget but just a gimmick.  The Democrats will be able to say “Well!  We put a draft into the committee!”

Remember when Harry Reid said that it would be “foolish” for Senate Democrats to propose a budget?  That was in 2010.  I guess he continues to maintain this view.  Question: When will it ever be politically expedient for Democrats to vote on a budget?  Are we to assume that for the purposes of politics, we are never going to get a budget out of the Senate?  Think about the message that this sends to Americans, and to any future Senate – these Democrats have been able to get away with this for over three years, so why should we put ourselves in the position of having to pass a budget? 

So if the Senate isn’t busy fulfilling its duty to pass a budget, then what ARE they doing?  Not much.  

The Senate spent an average of just 6.5 hours in session on the 170 days it officially met, the second-lowest since 1992. The upper chamber passed just 90 public laws and 402 measures, both the second-lowest in 20 years. They confirmed just shy of 20,000 judicial and other nominations — or 19,815, a 20-year low.

The difference, however, is that many of these laws could be bigger and make more of an impact.  (Think: ObamaCare or Dodd-Frank) 

Here’s another question for you to ponder.  What if the 17^th Amendment had never been passed.  What if the Senators were still chosen by the legislators of the states?  Every one of these Senators would be answering to state legislators instead of the voters.  Do you think the states would be letting them neglect their duties like this?  Would the state legislatures just sit by and let these people go for over 1000 days without even proposing a budget?  These Senators would be called back to their state capitols and told to do their durned job, or face a recall.  Yeah … but that was then.  This is now.  And now the Senate does nothing.