For the first time since 2009, the U.S. Senate has passed a Federal Budget Plan.

The budget plan slipped by on a narrow margin. The plan was voted on and passed early morning on Saturday. Even with four Democrats crossing the aisle and voting with the Republicans to defeat the passage of the bill, the Democrat-controlled Senate was able to pass a resolution for the first time in 4 years.

The resolution has no chance of surviving the House just as the House resolution has no chance in the Senate. The Senate bill cuts spending by approximately $1 trillion over the next ten years while generating revenue by about the same amount by closing loopholes and ending tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.

The Republican bill from the House cuts government spending without raising any taxes.

Alaska’s Senator Begich was one of the four Democrats that voted against the Democrat’s Senate budget proposal. Each of the four who voted against the resolution are all from states that voted for Mitt Romney in the last election and are themselves up for election in the next cycle.

Begich issued a statement after voting on the Senate’s resolution. “While I am happy that Congress is finally talking seriously about our fiscal crisis, this budget didn’t go far enough,” said Begich. “Alaskans expect us to finish the job and make this staggering deficit manageable. Passing this problem off to our children is not an option. We got ourselves into this mess and have a responsibility to get ourselves out. We can either make the tough choices now or face an even tougher road ahead.”

Prior to the vote, Senator Begich attempted to add more spending cuts to the resolution, some of those were ending unemployment benefits to Millionaires, ending funding for a medium extended air defense system, transparency to farm subsidies, and allowing denators to give back a portion of their salaries to the treasury or to charities during sequestration.

Alaska’s senior senator, Lisa Murkowski, adhered to the Republican rank and file and voted against the Senate resolution as well. She put out a press release after the vote saying, “This week in the Senate, what was debated were two competing visions for our nation’s fiscal future. Not exact spreadsheet budgets with dollars and cents details, but blueprints to help map out the road ahead.

“On one hand, you had Senator Patty Murray’s approach which did not address our deficit in any serious way and added $1.5 trillion dollars in taxes –spending cuts seemed to be almost an afterthought. I believe and have said that no responsible plan for our nation’s balance sheet can ignore our mandatory spending increases through Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security that continue to rise to the point where they are choking our economy. Even the Washington Post said Senator Murray’s budget gives ‘No reason to believe that Democrats have a viable plan for — or even a responsible public assessment of — the country’s long-term fiscal predicament.’

“While the Republican proposals were far from perfect, I did vote for a blueprint that addresses these concerns to get our spending under control and start digging us out of this financial hole. We must place our nation on a path towards financial stability and an environment where our economy cannot just grow, but flourish with pro-growth tax policies and more balance in our spending.

“As I told Alaskans at my economic town halls across the state, any solution to our debt must include comprehensive pro-growth tax reform, federal spending cuts and a reevaluation of our mandatory spending programs to allow them to survive without threatening our economy as a whole. Our budget must reflect this balanced approach.”

Even though neither bill has any chance of becoming the final budget, it does begin the debate in the two houses that may eventually meld into a bill that can pass and head to the President’s deck for signing.