Conrad Briefs Dems on Draft Budget

The Hill reports:

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), during a party caucus lunch on Tuesday, briefed Democratic colleagues on a budget resolution he has drafted.

Conrad wants to move the draft resolution “soon” and signaled that bipartisan Gang of Six talks on the deficit could continue separately.

“There are other ways to deal with what the group of six might come up with — you could deal with that outside of a budget resolution,” Conrad said.

Heading into the party lunch, Conrad said he would be making a presentation contrasting the House budget resolution authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), President Obama's 2012 budget, the report by the president's deficit commission and his own draft budget resolution.

“What this is ... is trying to lay the groundwork for what's done by giving a broad basis for four different plans,” he said.

He said that based on feedback, he is looking to announce a timetable for a Senate resolution later this week.

The budget resolution will move through the Budget Committee, Conrad said, contrary to the worries of some Republicans.

“It was never my intention to bypass the committee,” Conrad said.

He would not give any details of the draft resolution that he has prepared, or say how it differs from the outline of a deal the Gang of Six is considering.