On Special Report Friday night (4/20/12), the first lightning round topic was the budget. Bret Baier said to Charles Krauthammer, "There’s no budget on the Senate side." Well, not exactly. As Sen. Kent Conrad, Chairman of the Budget Committee said in his floor speech on March 20, 2012, “I want to emphasize for my colleagues that we do have a budget. Those who continue to claim we do not have a budget are either unaware of what they voted on last year or are seeking to deliberately mislead the public.”

Conrad also said:

The Budget Control Act was passed by the House of Representatives, it was passed by the Senate, and signed into law by the President. It is the law of the land, and it established the key components of the budget for 2012 and 2013.

Here is the language from the Budget Control Act itself. It is very clear the Budget Control Act is intended to serve as the budget for 2012 and 2013.

...In many ways, the Budget Control Act was even more extensive than a traditional budget. It has the force of law, unlike a budget resolution that is not signed by the President. I think most Members here know a budget resolution is purely a congressional document. The Budget Control Act is actually the law.

You can read more about the Budget Control Act here.

Krauthammer agreed with Baier. "Right. And we heard a couple of weeks ago from the head of the DNC that there would be a budget, that it was being held up in the Senate, only it's a matter of timing but it's not going to happen. Harry Reid is not going to produce or allow a vote on the budget. And the reason is simple. Sixteen Democrats are going to be up to be re-elected in November. And if you vote on a budget, you have to vote on a dozen issues. And they want to run in the dark."

Baier said to Charles Lane, of the Washington Post, "Chuck, with the President on the stump every other day talking about Paul Ryan's budget, doesn’t this hurt the argument on the Democratic side if there's not a budget?"

"Absolutely,” Lane said. “It hurts the idea that the party as a whole does not have an alternative. But what of course he can say is that I proposed a budget, which indeed he did. Notwithstanding the fact it was turned down unanimously in Congress. But it's less of an issue for him I think than for the folks running for the spots in the Senate and House."

Byron York said, "Today is 1087 since they (Senate) didn't pass one. We could have a scenario in which we go from April 2009 to April 2013 without the Senate passing a budget."

Baier said, "We may have to start having a graphic or something, like the Iranian hostage."

Krauthammer agreed again. "We need a clock, like a debt clock or a hostage clock, America Held Hostage."

Comment: Very nice to insult the American hostages in Iran from 1979-81 Bret and Charles. The conversation was a hit piece on Senate Democrats and the President. Go ahead Bret, ask Roger Ailes to start a nightly show on this "crisis." Maybe he'll double your salary and give you a second nightly show.