All of this talk about budgets (or lack thereof) started us thinking about the last time Democrats actually passed a budget – April 30, 2009. We also read a great piece on HotAir.com by Mary Katharine Hamm, in which she noted that the "federal government… hasn’t even bothered to pass a budget since before the iPad existed."
With that in mind, we thought we'd put into perspective the three years that the federal government has gone without a budget by highlighting our favorite cultural milestones that have occurred since we last passed a budget.
iPad Launch: As Mary Katharine Hamm noted, the iPad hadn't yet been invented the last time we passed a budget. First iPad release date: April 3, 2010
Tiger Woods Meltdown: When the last budget was passed in 2009, Tiger Woods still dominated the greens. Perhaps not coincidentally, his wife hadn't yet discovered that he was a serial cheater and hadn't chased him down their driveway with a golf club, earning her a spot on Time's "Top 10 Bad-Ass Wives". Driveway dash that started it all: November 26, 2009
Kim Kardashian's Marriage Mess: On April 30, 2009, Kardashian had only been married once, and the world had not yet had to witness the excruciating marriage – and divorce – for profit with Kris Humphreys. Wedding date: August 20, 2011
Balloon Boy Bust: The country held its breath when national news outlets began reporting that a boy had escaped in a weather balloon in Fort Collins, Colorado. The entire debacle was later found to be a hoax, perpetrated by the boy's father, who had reality TV show dreams. Hoax date: October 15, 2009
The Nook Launch: The Amazon Kindle enjoyed nearly two years without significant competition until the Barnes and Noble launched its own version, Nook, in November 2009. The competition only improved both devices. Nook First Launched: November 30, 2009
TSA Pat Down: Until November 2010, going through TSA screenings at the airport was simply annoying. But, new TSA "pat down" procedures, almost required one to put another notch on the bed post, giving rise to a popular catchphrase, "don't touch my junk". TSA Phase-In of Pat Down Procedures Start-Date: November 1, 2010.
Citizens United: This landmark U.S. Supreme Court case upheld that the First Amendment prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by corporations and unions, ushering in a new era of money in politics. Citizens United Decision: January 21, 2010
Former Gov. Mark Stanford Affair: The last time a budget was passed, South Carolina Governor Mark Stanford was still a rising star. But, that was all before he mysteriously disappeared for several days, claiming to have been hiking the Appalachian Trail. News reports emerged days later that he, instead, had visited Argentina to engage in an affair with an Argentinian woman, Maria Belen. Date South Carolina Legislature Censured Stanford: December 15, 2009
Jon and Kate Were Still Together: The country was fascinated by this couple who were raising one set of twins and another set of sextuplets, as chronicled by TLC's Jon and Kate Plus Eight. Unfortunately, it was not to last as Jon and Kate separated and, eventually, divorced. Gosslein Divorce Finalized: December 18, 2009
Occupy: Remember when "occupy" simply called up images of airplane bathrooms, instead of unwashed masses of the angry and unemployable? As it turned out the Occupy Movement was just another failed chapter in ACORN's playbook. Birth of Occupy Movement: September 17, 2011
Kate "Waity Katie" Middleton and Prince William: Despite the splash Prince William and Kate Middleton created with their wedding and life together, their future was all but certain in April 2009. Engagement Announcement: November 16, 2010; Wedding: April 29, 2011
Waiting for Better Education: The movie "Waiting for Superman" inserted school choice into mainstream conversation and cut across party lines. But, it wouldn't be released until January 2010 at Sundance Film Festival. "Waiting for Superman" Release Date: January 22, 2010
Ground Zero Mosque Debate: In April 2009, if the idea to build a mosque at the 9/11 Ground Zero site had been proposed, we might have laughed. But, in December 2009, the New York Times reported on plans to build a 13-story Islamic cultural center in lower Manhattan. A good lesson in "just because you can, doesn't mean you should". Story Broke: December 9, 2009
White House Party Crashers: Prior to April 2009, the White House had never had party crashers. That we know of. That all changed when reality TV wannabes, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, weaseled their way into a White House State Dinner. The best part of the story; however, was the finger pointing that ensued. Date of Party: November 24, 2009
Wikileaks: Remember when classified information was a secret? While the Wikileaks web site was started under Sunshine Press in 2006, it wasn't until April 2010 that the site and its founder, Julian Assange, started publishing classified military documents, including gunsight footage from an airstrike in Iraq. In October 2010, Wikileaks released the Iraq War Logs, followed by the State Department Cables in November. Classified Video of Baghdad Airstrike Released: April 7, 2010
Steve Jobs Was Still Alive: While Steve Jobs' health problems were well-documented, it wasn't until pictures of Jobs in seemingly very poor health emerged in August 2011 that the world understood the seriousness of his illness. He died just two months later. Death of Steve Jobs: October 5, 2011
First-Ever White House Beer Summit: On July 16, 2009, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was arrested in his Cambridge, Mass. home by a local police officer responding to a 9-1-1 caller's report of men breaking and entering the residence. President Obama criticized the police actions. In response to the backlash, Obama and Vice President Biden invited the police officer and Gates in a private meeting on the White House grounds, commonly known as the "Beer Summit". Date of Beer Summit: July 30, 2009
Cracked ACORN Nut: ACORN, unofficial GOTV arm of the Democratic Party, at one time represented over 500,000 people. ACORN's demise started in September 2009 when Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe published several videos showing ACORN employees in several cities providing advice to Giles and O'Keefe on how to avoid taxes and detection by the authorities regarding their plans to engage in tax evasion, human smuggling, and child prostitution. Congress eliminated federal funding to ACORN, and ACORN announced it would be closing its offices and disbanding due to loss of funding from government and private donors. ACORN Announced Its Demise: March 23, 2010
Joe Wilson Interrupts State of the Union: Call it passion, but Joe Wilson channeled the British Parliament when he stood up during an Obama speech and yelled, "You Lie!" after Obama claimed that illegal immigrants won't be insured under Obamacare. His outburst subsequently channeled one million dollars right into his campaign coffers. Date of speech: September 9, 2009
While a stroll back through time is fun, the point of this exercise is to note that our President has gone over three years without passing a budget, and it's time for him to focus on our woeful state of affairs, or turn the reins over to someone who can.