Well, we taxpayers can breather easier, for a little while at least.
The House last week approved a temporary funding measure that will keep the federal government — including the IRS — operating at current levels through next Friday.
The continuing resolution provides money for the tax agency and other offices on a pro-rata basis at fiscal year 2008 funding levels through Dec. 21.
Lawmakers (among others) are hopeful that they can resolve spending differences and craft an omnibus appropriations bill this coming week that will keep Dubya’s veto pen in his pocket.
House Appropriation Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wisc., told reporters last week that he and his colleagues were making progress, so the first session of the 110th Congress might not have to extend beyond Christmas.
That would be a nice gift for us all.
The best present, however, would be for Congress to quit operating on a fiscal stop-gap standard. David Ignatius at Real Clear Politics has a good piece on the continuing resolution epidemic and its real cost to us all.
