Senate Passes Pay-As-You-Go Spending Rules for Borrowing Increase

by Jordan Yerman | January 28, 2010 at 12:31 pm

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The Senate passed a 60-39 vote to institute pay-as-you-go spending rules, which would also raise the Federal Government's borrowing limit.

While the overall borrowing limit was raised, the pay-as-you-go law stipulates that new budget items will have to be paid for, either by cutting the budget in other areas, or with tax hikes.

The vote was strictly along party lines, with Senate Democrats voting "yes" on pay-as-you-go bill and Republicans voting "no". Two independents voted on the Democratic side of the aisle.

House lawmakers must still take up the legislation and are expected to do so next week, according to a senior House Democratic aide.

The increase comes just over a month after Congress upped the borrowing cap by $290 billion from its previous limit of $12.1 trillion.

"Let's not kid ourselves: we are in this financial situation – and these pay-as-you-go rules are necessary – because we spent the last decade spending money we didn't have,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, the measure's chief sponsor.

Harry Reid went on to cite the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Bush-era tax cuts.

The borrowing limit woudl be increased by $1.9 trillion.