down, and so we do need to to get this issue behind us. the majority leader complained this morning that republicans need to come talk to him. the majority leader needs to come talk to him. he said i would have hoped that someone would come to us, come to the table, and he specifically referred to senator mcconnell. and my response is why do the republicans always have to come up with the ideas? you know, three times, the house of representatives has passed a proposal only to be criticized each time by the democrats who invite them to come up with proposals. you remember the first was the ryan budget, savaged by my democratic colleagues and by the president. house republicans said yes, senate democrats said no. then they came up with cut, cap and balance, something that s pretty popular around the country. it would cut spending, it would cap it and it would ultimately have a balanced budget amendment that would keep it capped. democrats roundly criticized that. in the senat