Rep. Perriello Breaks with Dems Over Budget

The vote on the budget came up yesterday, and passed the House 233-196. Some are declaring this another early victory for Obama, and DNC Chair Tim Kaine praised the vote. Looking inside the roll call vote, however, shows that this was clearly a partisan vote; no Republican voted for the budget resolution. House Whip Eric Cantor opined that Democrats were "over-reacting" to the economic crisis with this vote.

Yet, as Appomattox News reports, Rep. Perriello was one of 20 Democrats to break with the party and vote against the budget proposal. Saith Perriello on his vote:

“I approach each vote independently and ask whether it’s the best we can do, and this budget does not meet that test. This budget turns the corner but doesn’t get us to our goal of balancing the budget. While President Bush’s policies caused this year’s record deficit, we must take responsibility for the budget now, and this resolution does not make the difficult decisions that will help us climb out of this economic crisis.

“During the debate on this resolution, we fought successfully for deeper deficit cuts and managed to remove a line-item for yet another bailout. Nevertheless, we can and must do better. We must stop hemorrhaging money to Wall Street now, and start taking responsibility for nearly a decade of train-wreck economics.”