http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/09/22/national/w131939D34.DTL&type=politicsThe legislation is coming together in a remarkably secretive process in which decisions are concentrated in the hands of just a few lawmakers such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis.
The unusual process means thousands of lawmakers' pet projects of the very sort blasted by GOP presidential nominee John McCain on the campaign trail would escape scrutiny, including up to $5 billion worth of such "earmarks" in the defense budget alone.
Congressional leaders hope to pass the budget legislation this week, but several issues remained undecided Monday. For starters, it wasn't clear how much the White House would be willing to accept.
Bush has threatened to veto bills that don't cut the number and cost of earmarks in half or cause agency operating budgets, taken together, to exceed his request.
.·*´¨)
.·`TCH
(..·*
010000110101001101101000011000010111001001110000010011110111001001000010011101010111001101110100
"When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser." - Socrates
Vita contingit, Vive cum eo. (Life Happens, Live With it.)
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." -- author unknown
"De omnibus dubitandum"
