House Rejects Bipartisan Budget

The House has voted to decisively reject a bipartisan budget mixing tax increases with spending cuts to wring $4 trillion from federal deficits over the coming decade.

The 382-38 roll call paved the way for Republicans to muscle through their own, stringent budget on Thursday that blends big cuts to safety-net programs for the poor with a plan to dramatically overhaul Medicare.

The bipartisan measure rejected late Wednesday was patterned on a plan by President Barack Obama's 2010 deficit commission and was written by moderate Reps. Steve LaTourette, R-Ohio, and Jim Cooper, D-Tenn. They said it offered the only bipartisan approach to tackling Washington's massive deficits in an election year in which the two parties are polarized on the budget and virtually every other issue.

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