Baby steps. This afternoon the House passed the “No Budget, No Pay Act” and has sent it to the Senate. According to The Hill, 33 Republicans voted against it because it didn’t include any spending cuts, but 86 Democrats voted for it with the final vote being 285-144. Now it’s in the Senate’s hands.

At a press conference after the bill passed, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) praised the vote as the “first step towards trying to resolve the nation’s fiscal crisis in a responsible manner.”

“I look forward to working with the White House and Senate to do so,” he said.

But even as the House was passing the bill, Senate Democrats were downplaying the measure, and announced their own plans to pass a budget resolution this year.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) claimed victory in the debt-ceiling fight, saying House Republicans were in “full-on retreat on fiscal policy.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), however, said the Senate would pass the House bill quickly.

The Obama administration on Wednesday called the vote a “welcome development.” But press secretary Jay Carney added that the president hoped for a long-term deal to avoid future battles over the nation’s borrowing limit. (Read More)

Oh yes, the president would like the debt ceiling to be eliminated permanently and all opposition to his policies silenced.