The big news right now is the standoff in Washington over the supplemental spending bill to support ongoing military operations (and provide for peanut and spinach farmers). President Bush says he'll veto any spending bill that presents a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. The Democrats note that Congress holds the purse strings. Stuck in the middle of all this is the Defense Department, which would probably just like to get their money.
It's been almost two months since the spending bill was submitted to Congress, although the Pentagon says it can shift funds around accounts and get by till mid-summer by cutting back on some non-essentials.
This isn't the first time that there's a delay in getting a supplemental spending bill passed for the Pentagon. So, I'm curious to hear from readers of the DANGER ROOM what "non-essentials" are curtailed during these sorts of budget famines.
