That will give voters a clear read on their ideology just as they’re hitting the campaign trail — and likely complicate Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s vow to shepherd a spending blueprint through the GOP-controlled Congress.

The Republicans' new dead-on-arrival budget could soon prove a stumbling block for the GOP's four 2016 hopefuls in the Senate. It seems they'll have to take sides: should the budget cut, cut, cut (just as the economy makes a legit recovery); or should we be pouring money into defense coffers for an endless global war? The options are so tantalizing, it'll be hard to choose just one. Manu Raju of Politico reports Drat—a snag! Just when things were totally looking up for McConnell, who can sidestep a Democratic filibuster and pass the budget resolution with a simple majority—the operative word here being "majority." He can't afford to lose more than three of his 54 senators on the vote.

The four senators in question are Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. The first two have typically been drawn to the cut, cut, cut corner, while the latter two tend to mingle more with the endless global war crowd. Here's a little taste of the spirited debate to come:



“I think part of our national security is trying not to overburden the country with debt,” Paul said. Graham fired back: “I agree with Sen. Paul that one of the threats to our nation is the debt. But I reject the idea that defense spending has anything at all to do with that.”

Head below the fold for more of the fun.