And now for something completely different:
There's a big spending with seven gnarly riders stuck into it that will probably pass tomorrow. Dems and some Repubs have been fighting it, but it will probably pass tomorrow. NPR is the only source I've found that details the riders. A story was on All Things Considered this evening and I've puth their blurb here and then summarized the riders below. (Links to today's ATC show, scroll down to "Congress Returns to Face Big Budget Issues" for the audio for this story.)
Congress returns from its holiday recess this week to face budget issues that were unresolved at the end of 2003. The Senate has yet to approve an immense omnibus spending bill that provides funding for most of the government's operations. It also includes many provisions that had been rejected when considered separately.
The Riders:
oo Undo Congressional Block New Rules on Overtime, nullified both houses of congress to deny overtime pay rights to 8 million
oo Kill Congressional moves in both houses to block greater media consolidation.
oo Fund $11 billion in projects for specific states that the congress never authorized. (McCain said it's plain that the New Years parties haven't ended in Congress.)
oo Block a bill aleady passed in Congress to label meat's country of origin (In spite of Mad Cow disease).
oo Require FBI to destroy documents on gun background checks within 24 hours rather than the current 90 days.
As I said, Republicans will probably push this bill through tomorrow... Unless all of the dKos folks decided to post one less comment each about Deans' rabid ferret speech and called their Senators (ahem).
Your faithful needler,
Media Revolution!