It’s a little scary that lawmakers vote for billions of dollars in budget increases without even knowing it.

This week I did a series of stories on an $8 billion budget shortfall in the US Highway Trust Fund. It’s a big deal. States stand to lose 30% of their federal highway money if it isn’t patched by October first, and the majority of lawmakers agree that US highways and bridges are in desperate need of the money.

Democratic leaders in the Senate attached the $8 billion fix to a bill that extends renewable energy tax credits. The bill was voted on twice this week.

I tried to interview Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) about the fund an hour before the first vote. He knew nothing about it (by the way, he is on the transportation committee), but he voted with his party. That also means he blindly voted for a budget increase of $8 billion.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal.) wasn’t too sure of what the patch was, but, lucky for her, she had a knowledgeable staffer around.

The Trust Fund legislation was first passed by the House last week. Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.), a leader of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, voted to bail out the trust fund. Yet he didn’t know what it was.

I guess now we know why the deficit is out of control.