Congress, on top of that pesky Bush tax-cut extension (popular in the middle but nowhere else), has another important item to cross off the old to-do list ASAP: the spending authorization bill that feeds the government the funds it needs for its basic function. So far, so good; this evening the House did its part, passing a bill that provides $1.1 trillion for the rest of the fiscal year. Unlike some legislation in this contentious lame-duck session, this bill was always expected to succeed. But not soon enough for Representative David Obey of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, who vented his impatience with the process when things were bleaker yesterday: “Isn’t it wonderful to be in the city of misplaced priorities and ass-backward judgments?” (These are the things you can say when you’re retiring.) The spending bill’s now in the Senate’s hands. [CNN]
