Even if the budget deal passed Dec. 13 by the House wasn’t the best congressional Republicans could negotiate, it’s not worth second thoughts that could tear the party apart. The two-year deal won’t cut spending. In fact, it reverses $63 billion in spending cuts forced by sequestration. It also will increase the deficit each year and adds new sources of revenue — also known as “tax hikes” — in the form of increased airport user fees.

But the deal also forces Senate Democrats to do something they’ve avoided throughout most of President Obama’s tenure in the Oval Office: take a big step back in the direction of adopting an annual budget that defines federal spending. Since taking over the House in the 2010 elections, the Boehner-led Republicans have let Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., shield their Democratic colleagues from having to cast recorded votes on the many tough choices that must be considered in the budget process. They did this by foregoing the budget process adopted in 1974 by a Democratic Congress and a Republican president, and relying instead on an endless series of continuing resolutions to fund the government.