In case you missed it, the lame-duck Congress reconvened this week to wrap up a little bit of unfinished business. After taking a week off from their vacations, they closed the book on the 109th Congress Saturday.
I of course happily bid farewell to the reign of the rabid pachyderms, even as I feel angst over the rise of the rabid donkeys.
Amidst the media coverage, I found a quote in this AP article:
As one of its final acts, Congress approved a stopgap measure keeping federal programs running at or slightly below current levels through Feb. 15. President Bush quickly signed it on Saturday.
The action was necessary because lawmakers failed to pass the annual spending bills covering the budget year that began Oct. 1, except those dealing with defense and homeland security.
Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., who will become House Appropriations Committee chairman when the Democrats take over, said the bill was “a blatant admission of abject failure by the most useless Congress in modern times.”