Despite concerns from the likes of Sen. Bob Corker, the Senate approved its half of a joint budget resolution Tuesday, making it the first time Congress passed a resolution of this kind since 2009. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had been obstructing this common sense procedure — to create a spending plan that will guide Congress’ spending bills — for a very long time. But while the GOP met this campaign promise, there are more obstacles to come. First, the budget passed both chambers on party line votes. Democrats opposed the Republican effort in the resolution to chip away at ObamaCare, for example. And then there’s the challenge of trying to curtail the Leviathan’s ravenous appetite. The Democrats say it can’t be done.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said, “We know there’s only one bit of good news. Our colleagues, when they’re forced to actually put real numbers to these budget numbers in the appropriations process, won’t be able to do it. They won’t dare do it.” Furthermore, Barack Obama said he would veto a bill authorizing the defense budget set to the GOP’s proposed levels, and he implied he would use his veto pen on the 10 other appropriation bills that conform to the GOP’s budget. It’s time for the Right to stick to their guns.

It may seem like the eve of the government shutdown of 2013, as Ed Morrissey notes, but it’s the minority party and its president who have the most to lose, shutting the government down. More…