179 moon trips possible since Senate’s last budget

Three Pentagons could have been built, and 179 round trips to the moon could have been taken in the time since the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a budget, House GOP leaders argued Tuesday.

The criticism follows at statement by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, who claimed his conference would write a budget this year. The Hill reports that Mr. Schumer pledged to do a budget after House GOP leaders said they would only approve a three-month extension of the debt ceiling if it included a provision blocking budgetless senators from receiving their paychecks.

“Before there is any long-term debt-limit increase, a budget should be passed that cuts spending,” House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, told the House Republican Conference on Friday in Williamsburg, Va.

A graphic released Tuesday by Mr. Boehner’s office also detailed that one could drive from Key West, Fla., to Seattle 684 times, earn an accounting degree from the University of Chicago, circumnavigate the globe 73 times or defeat the Axis in World War II in the time since the Senate last passed a budget.

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