And the common ground rests on a simple proposition and that is that criminals and the dangerously mentally ill shouldn’t have guns.

 

And this is common sense. This is gun sense. 

 

The NRA, the National Rifle Association, describes Senators Toomey and Manchin as strong supporters of gun rights. But it says their proposal would not affect the core problems of gun violence.

 

First Lady Michelle Obama was also talking about guns yesterday. She was in Chicago, a city that’s been affected by a wave of gun violence. 535 people in Chicago were killed in gun violence last year. That’s about 100 more people than the year before. Mrs. Obama visited a school yesterday where 29 current and former students had been shot in the past year. 

 

I’m not talking about something that’s happening in a war zone halfway around the world. I am talking about what’s happening in the city that we call home. If our kids keep waking up in neighborhoods where they don’t feel safe on their own front porches, if they’re still attending schools with crumbling ceilings and ripped-up text books, if there’s nowhere safe for them to go when that afternoon bell rings, then nothing speaks louder than that.

 

The first lady’s husband, President Obama, was speaking yesterday too, talking about his proposal for the U.S. government’s budget. It includes the president’s suggestions for how the country would spend and save money. And it’s getting some criticism from Republicans and Democrats. The president’s plan is just one proposal in just one part of the federal budget process. Most years, it starts from the president’s proposal. This year, there are three budget proposals - one from the White House, one from the U.S. Senate, and one from the U.S. House of Representatives. The House and Senate released their proposals about a month ago. 

 

Once the proposal, or this year proposals, come out, then the House and Senate budget committees work on figuring out what’s in and what’s out. Those committees are responsible for coming up with a single budget resolution. If the full House and Senate both pass that resolution, and the president agrees, then the budget goes into effect. If the resolution doesn't pass, and that’s not unusual, then the government can use a continuing resolution - basically the budget numbers from the past year continue into the new year.