I have not read the bill, Bucco. If it doesn't apply to sixty percent of the budget, that might be explained by the fact that's just about the proportion of the budget that is currently classified as "mandatory" spending--Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, VA benefits and interest on government debt.

As far as Congress simply ignoring the law, if and when it passes the House and is signed into law, they don't have much of a choice, do they?

My point--and the point of the editorial--is that politics and self-interest appears to trump even the most critical issues that could be addressed with legislation. No one party escapes this criticism. In this instance it's the Republicans who appear to be saying one thing, but doing another.