The power of the purse was taken away from the House by the maneuverings of the Democrats -- starting as early as 2009.
When the passed Porkulus, they knew they would likely lose the House in 2010.
So:
1. They styled Porkulus as a one-time-only expenditure. Yet, they built the trillion dollars into each department's budget framework.
2. The 2009 budget was the last budget passed by the House and Senate. There was no effort to write a 2010 budget and the departments went on auto-pilot thanks to base-line budgeting -- with Porkulus built into their base-line. The same happened with the 2011 budget, which was due in October, 2010. The Democrats had complete control of both Houses of Congress, at the time; the GOP had no voice in the matter.
3. When the GOP took over the House in 2011, there was no budget -- but there was a spending plan because of the base-line budget, with Porkulus built in, of course. And another 3-to-7% automatically added to the total. The GOP House developed a budget, after the fact. But the Democrat Senate wouldn't even bring it to a vote. The spending cvontinued unabated.
4. The GOP House produced budgets for 2012 and will doubtless prepare one for FY 2013, which starts in October, 2012. The Senate refused to act on the 2012 budget. And they will refuse to act on the 2013 budget. Spending will continue to be guided by the baseline budget system -- with Porkulus growing annually, thanks to the wonders of compound interest.
5. Under the circumstances, the only mechanisms available to the House to control the budget are the continuing resolutions. They can have no impact on total spending...or on how the money is spent...unless the Senate concurs!
Checkmate. The Democrats have gamed the system and installed a devious plan, based on double-dealing, that has kept the huge deficit spending rolling along unabated.
Yes, they're cheating. And they're irresponsible. And they have subverted the Constitution to their own political ends. But there is little or nothing that the House alone can do about it. That is why we need not only the House, but a dominant majority in the Senate and the Presidency to reverse all the damage that has been done.
No Congress can be bound by a preceding congress. I know they cheated, so it is trench warfare, we just don’t seem to have the leadership that is willing to do battle. The biggest lie of all is that the GOPe is not all that opposed to this nonsense and I guarantee you that they are already talking about mend it don’t end it. They can start messing with the Courts, they have a lot of weight they can throw around. They might even grow a pair and look at the 80 or so members of the communist party that currently are in the House, but dang can’t do that it would be racist.