Bipartisan Agreement Reached to Fund Government Through September

I think that Congress needs to be required to pass a budget each year. There needs to be a clear spending plan so that new programs can be funded and old ones terminated.

Couldn't agree more. It's bad enough that they only plan to work 145 days in 2017, but when they still get nothing done it sends a bad message. The message to me is that they are just going through the motions, and doing the bare minimum. They then blame the other party for no results and expect their constituents to vote for them. These are supposed to be adults and leaders so if they ever expect to be considered that way they need to act like it. Their job has morphed from taking care of the Nation to taking care of themselves by getting re-elected. All that pesky legislation is just a distraction.
http://ijr.com/2016/11/746337-congress-2017-calendar-trump-agenda/

Yup, if they stop putting in poison pills then the funding bills will pass easily. Liberals will never go along with anything that includes anti-abortion provisions or taking away from the safety net, and conservatives will never go along with anything taking away gun rights or increasing taxes.

Not really, a so-called government shutdown doesn't even come close to that. Merely a successful political ploy carried out by the Democrats.

Delineating a budgetary plan and making it the law of the land requires that Congress establishes a budget before the start of each fiscal year. This fiasco of turning to using continuing resolutions will damage American credibility and highlights Congress not accomplishing their role. No Congressional office holder should be paid before getting that budget done.