During Senate consideration of the 2006 Budget Resolution-a non-binding budgetary blueprint for taxing and spending goals for the upcoming year and beyond-Jim DeMint (R-SC) offered an amendment to express the sense of the Senate that "Congress should reject any Social Security plan that requires deep benefit cuts or a massive increase in debt, and that a failure to act on Social Security would result in massive debt, deep benefit cuts and tax increases." Like a budget resolution, a sense of the Senate amendment is a non-binding document which lacks the force of law. DeMint explained his amendment as "a simple request to ask my colleagues to recognize the problem [with the Social Security Trust Fund]." According to the Congressional Budget Office, the non-partisan budgetary arm of Congress, the Social Security Trust Fund will be able to meet only 78 percent of its financial obligations by 2052. Progressives voted against DeMint's amendment based on their opposition to the final clause. While Progressive agreed with DeMint that Congress should avoid deep benefit cuts or massive debt increases, they rejected the claim that failing to act would spur tax increases. "I cannot agree with that because it is just not accurate," explained Senator Conrad (D-ND). On a party line vote of 56-43, the DeMint amendment was added to the budget resolution. This non-binding and largely symbolic amendment, however, does not translate into new public policy in the area of Social Security reform.