AP, July 9th:

Democrats controlling the House have called a halt to efforts to pass the 12 annual bills that fund Cabinet agency budgets.

Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis. ... has suspended his panel's work on spending bills for the budget year beginning Oct. 1.

But with President Bush promising veto after veto of the Democratic bills -- and Senate action unlikely for most of them as well -- there's little enthusiasm among either rank and file Democrats or their leaders to pass all the bills.

Instead, Congress is likely to pass a stopgap measure funding the government into next year. Democratic leaders such as Reid have little to no desire to engage in a confrontation with the lame-duck Bush, who has vowed to veto spending bills that exceed his February budget request.

Daily Kos, June 4th:

Ordinarily, tops on the list of major legislation would be the 12 regular appropriations bills that will fund the government during Fiscal Year 2009, which begins on October 1, 2008. Lately, however, Congress has had great difficulty (for a variety of reasons) in getting those bills done by October 1st, and has instead bought time for itself by adopting continuing resolutions, allowing them to carry work on the new appropriations bills over past the starting date of the new fiscal year, without having the government run out of money while they work.

That's what often happens even under normal circumstances. But when you have a lunatic Republican president who threatens to veto every Democratic appropriations bill unless they're rewritten to exactly his specifications, and you're looking at the very real possibility of electing both a Democratic president and a tidal wave of new Democrats to Congress, you can bet that there's some strong sentiment out there for just passing CRs and waiting for the 44th president and the 111th Congress to set the spending agenda.

Hey, AP, I'm suing you!

Anyway, I approve. They're not gonna get honest budget dealings from these clowns. And frankly, we haven't exactly been on a hot streak when it comes to getting our way on things.

While we have all been worrying about the Telecom Immunity and the other changes to the FISA Laws Rep. Obey has quietly made sure the FBI doesn't have the money to do more harm. Obey and his Appropriations Comm. voted down a big 11 Million Dollar expansion of the FBI's datamining.

Earlier today, a House appropriators voted to pull $11 million to expand a controversial FBI data-mining project, after the Bureau repeatedly stiff-armed Congressmen and their gumshoes in the Government Accountability Office.

"By refusing to answer even the most basic questions about this program, the Department of Justice has given us little choice.  In fact, we’re only doing what they told us to do," said Congressman Brad Miller in a statement. "The Department of Justice... said that if Congress didn’t like what they were doing, we could pull their funding.  Well, that’s what we’ve done... Until an agency can provide reasonable explanations, and assurances that our citizens’ privacy won’t be violated, it would be irresponsible to give the Department of Justice this large increase in funds. " http://blog.wired.com/...

We've all been there.  A project is supposed to be done and turned in to the boss and for what ever reason you just can't turn it in.  Maybe you blew the project off to go drinking.  Maybe you just need a little more time to finish the project to your satisfaction.  What ever the reason you need to weasel yourself a little time.  Blaming the dog is perhaps a little archaic, now we complain about the network going down or a virus deleting all our hard work.  So what did the FBI tell the GAO when it came looking for information on the $78,700,000 the FBI requested for a data mining operation that might violate our privacy?  Take the red pill and jump to find out.

Another cave-in by Congressional Democrats.  Another deal to keep the war going, in exchange for a few crumbs.

Today is Iraq Moratorium day.  Do something to let them know what you think.

It's true that 151 Democrats voted against the war funding.  So, if you want to thank them, go ahead -- but don't thank them too much, David Swanson  says.  Here's the roll call.

"Not a single one of them did a damned thing more than vote no," Swanson (left), of Democrats.com, ImpeachCheney.org and AfterDowningStreet.org, said in a Milwaukee appearance Thursday night.  They didn't issue public statements to the media, write their colleagues, or do anything to press to defeat the bill.  "They voted no, knowing it would pass."

I'm really curious which members of the House Kossacks have the most respect for. Please post your selections and rationale for your choice, particularly if you vote "Other".

The list below, of course, is only a small number of the great liberal Democrats we have serving us. You may have a particular admiration for your own representative. Those listed below are the ones who I perceived as having a potent combination of strong liberal tendencies and a dynamic, noticeable personality.

With that said, have at it.

As House members debated the latest "emergency supplemental" spending bill for Iraq, David Obey delivered a nice smackdown to John Culberson (R-TX) after he tried to trot out the usual Republican canard about Democrats, supporting the troops and pork:

John Culberson (R-TX):  ...it contains provisions that have nothing to do with our troop's survival and safety in the field.  To burden our troops with pork, with tax increases, with special provisions that have nothing to do with the war, adds to, I think, the obvious misuse of the process and I urge members to vote against the pork and support our troops.

Obey:  I yield myself 30 seconds...I'd like the gentleman from Texas to point out a single piece of member pork in this bill.

Culberson:  Does the gentleman yield?

Obey:  Yes.

Culberson:  Mr., Mr. Chairman, there's a number of un-un-unnecessary provisions in this...

Obey:  Name one.

Culberson:  Well, why are we separating out, sir, why aren't we just passing...

Obey:  (nearly yelling)  Name one.

Culberson:  Why are we...

Obey:  (yelling, finger pointing)  Can you name one or can't you?  The fact is there is not a single piece of member pork in this bill.  You ought to...

(pounding gavel, "time expired")

Culberson:  (inaudible)...why are we passing provisions in this bill with tax increases?

(pounding gavel)

"The gentlemen will cease their conversation.  The time of 30 seconds has expired.  All members are asked to address their remarks through the chair."

Obey:  I yield myself one additional minute....and through the chair, I would invite the member to name a specific piece of congressional pork in this bill.  He cannot because there is none.  He's at least had enough time to read the bill to know that.

Culberson was probably too busy memorizing his GOP talking points to actually read the bill.

Update:  

Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) and 76 lawmakers have sent House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey a letter requesting that funding for failed abstinence-only sexual education programs be left out of this year’s Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Bill.

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/...

Congressman David Obey from WI just endorsed Obama. David Obey was one of the key congressional supporters of John Edwards. He waited for more than a week to see what Edwards does, I suppose, but threw his support behind Obama today. This is a key endorsement by Obey who is the chairman of the House Appropriation Committee and a true populist.

Obama also scored a key endorsement ahead of Nebraska's upcoming caucuses. Today Frank LaMere, a superdelegate and chairman of the DNC's Native American Caucus will help bring many native-Americans to Obama's camp as well as his vote for him in the convention in Denver.

Also, SUSA has a brand new poll from VA, and you guessed it right, Obama is leading 59-39%. He leads in every geographic part of the state, and it is particularly interesting that he even leads in the DC suburbs by 9, this is Clinton territory and she needs to do REALLY well there if she has a chance.

In Maryland, Obama is up 52-33%. Essentially tied among whites, but leads huge among blacks.

Somehow, over the past few weeks, David Obey and Christine Gregoire have lost their damn minds.

They clearly have become brainwashed automatons, worshipping hype and ignoring a plain lack of substance.

Their statements of adoration for a David Koresh-type figure below the fold.

House Appropriations Chair David Obey (D-WI) endorses Obama!

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to many questions from private citizens and members of the Press, Wisconsin Seventh District Congressman Dave Obey (D-WI) today issued the following statement:

"For eight long years, in extreme partisanship, George W. Bush has governed this country by dividing it. He has pursued disastrous foreign and domestic policies and has stubbornly refused to listen to anyone’s views except those who march in lockstep with him. America desperately needs a new president who can reach across old barriers to form new alliances that can produce a new era of optimism and a healthier respect for the needs of others. I had originally supported John Edwards for President, but with his withdrawal I am voting for Barack Obama. People will, and should, make their own choices, but I believe that, while both remaining candidates would make outstanding presidents, Senator Obama has the best chance of giving this country the new beginning it so desperately needs."

Obey had previously been with John Edwards. Obey is one of the most senior Democrats in Congress in the entire country. Not a bad grab for the Obama campaign.

The thing both parties seem to agree on is that science is critical to the future of the U.S., but according the the largest organization of U.S. physicists:

The Omnibus Bill is a disaster for the very sciences that our political leaders have repeatedly proclaimed essential for our national security, economic vitality and environmental stewardship.....

Hundreds of layoffs, furloughs and project shutdowns at Fermilab, Stanford Linear Accelerator, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and other national laboratories and research universities seem unavoidable.  U.S. funding for the International Linear Collider project will be curtailed for the balance of the fiscal year, placing extraordinary stress on the high-energy physics program.  FY08 funding for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor will be zeroed out, abrogating our agreement with our European and Asian partners....  The list is long and the damage significant.

How did this happen?  More below...

Wisconsin's Dave Obey, the House Appropriations chair, is never one to mince words.  

He's famous for his explosive language and telling it like it is, even on the House floor.  

He's got a temper (not that there's anything wrong with that.)  And he hates to be pushed around.

So it should be no surprise that Obey has pulled the plug on the deal the Democrats were working on with the White House, to pour billions more into Iraq in return for some domestic pork.

Fed up with Republicans, and perhaps with some in his own leadership (cough, Hoyer, cough), David Obey is threatening to scrap the compromise bill he is still working on:

But after a White House veto threat over the weekend, a frustrated Obey said he would rip up the compromise bill and devise a new one using the strict spending ceiling set by Bush — but would reach it by whacking GOP priorities and stripping the measure of billions of dollars in pet projects for lawmakers in both parties.

Obey took the step after the White House and weekend news accounts suggested Democrats were willing to trade $50 billion-$70 billion in new Iraq war funds for just a few billion in domestic programs. He wants to break the perceived linkage, which had whipped up the liberal anti-war blogosphere....

"I don't see any purpose in stringing things out for table scraps," Obey said, threatening to cut off negotiations and produce a bill — at Bush's strict budget number — without any GOP help.

"Short of having somebody in authority sit down and say, 'OK, we will work out a reasonable compromise,' I don't see any point in prolonging the agony," Obey said. "I don't see how we have any choice but to go to the president's numbers on appropriations to make clear that we aren't going to link the war with token funding on the domestic side."...

The bill contained about $30 billion for U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, but Democratic leaders anticipate that Senate Republicans would have added to the measure up to $40 billion more for military operations in Iraq.

"They keep raising the ante," Obey said. "Now they're up to $70 billion (for Iraq and Afghanistan). I don't want to be part of any deal like that."

Do it, Congressman Obey, do it. Tear that bill up and refuse the cynical attempt to tie funding for the Iraq debacle to this domestic funding bill.

Obey has to keep hanging tough against his own leadership and the feckless Senate on this one. It might be time for concerted blog action to thank Rep. Obey and urge him to stay tough. While you're at it, call Nancy Pelosi (202-225-4965) and Harry Reid (202-224-3542) and tell them to keep this funding bill clear of Iraq spending.

In October, Reps. Obey, Murtha, and McGovern said the government should levy a war surtax, the New York Times reported.  They said they didn't expect Democratic leaders to embrace the tax proposal but said the goal was to "call the president's bluff on fiscal responsibility." The Times noted Bush had pledged to veto the children's health insurance bill because it would increase the cost of the program by $35 billion over five years - the cost of three months of operations in Iraq.

"If this war is important enough to fight, then it ought to be important enough to pay for," said Rep. Obey.

Republicans accused Democrats of trying to raise taxes at every opportunity, reported the Times.

Here's a simple modification to Obey's proposal, which would draw an even brighter line under the hypocrisy of the war's supporters: enact such a tax, but make it voluntary.

George Bush says he needs money to pay for the war in Iraq.  Well, House Appropriations Chair David Obey has an easy solution to that problem:

Speaking in front of a press gaggle, Reps. David Obey, D-WI, and Jack Murtha, D-PA, reasserted that there was enough money money to fund the war through February, and that if the President wanted the additional $50 billion passed by the House of Representatives, he merely had to tell Republican leadership -- which filibustered the measure in the Senate -- to change its stance.

"Let me repeat," said Obey, "the money has already been provided by the House of Representatives. If the president wants that $50 billion released, all he has to do is to call the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, and ask him to stop blocking it. That phone number is (202) 224-2541, in case anybody's interested."

On Monday, Rep. David Obey, the top appropriator in the House, was questioned at the National Press Club about the President's request for bunker buster bombs that Reps. Moran and McDermott charge are aimed at Iran. The CSPAN video is here.

The question is at 42:12. In response, Obey discussed the sorry history of U.S. policy towards Iran, including the coup against the Mossadegh government 50 years ago. The questioner (Sam Husseini of the Institute for Public Accuracy) got in a follow-up at 45:33: "Will you fund the bunker busters?"

Obey's response: "Well, I don't have the power to determine whether we will or will not do anything. I certainly think that the bunker busters raise very serious questions about what the Administration's intentions are and I'm very skeptical that we ought to proceed but that's going to have to be a collective decision."

This was an odd response. Of course, it's technically accurate that Obey can't decide by himself whether to fund or not fund something. But he could clearly state his own opposition to the funding, and obviously he has more than average influence.

Today, the Democratic controlled Labor HHS Appropriations conference committee report includes the full increase requested by President Bush for abstinence-only programs. Let's call that what it is: a stunning disgrace.

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/...

Here's a bit of good news for your Friday I came across.  It seems another principled Democrat has decided to take a stand alone.  Rep. David Obey, D-WI, has joined Chris Dodd among the ranks of those willing to be seen taking an action, rather than writing sternly worded letters and non-binding resolutions.

Today's WOOHOO moment was reported on NPR last night and online in Time: