Friday, January 29, 2010

Early Prospects for the New Year
The new year seems to have brought more change (and more inaction at the same time). Following the President's State of the Union address, health care reform has slipped into a holding pattern, while the White House and the Hill have pivoted to jobs, jobs, jobs. Next up while all that is in the works: deliver of the President's FY 2011 Budget on February 1 and the start of the annual budget and appropriations process. President Obama has called for a domestic appropriations funding "freeze" (not account-by-account, but in the aggregate) and how lawmakers react remains to be seen. But even under a freeze, Congress will likely appropriate a significant sum of money and keep intact some modicum of an earmark process -- particularly heading into the midterm elections which will determine continued (or changed) majority control in Congress.

Trivia question: Who was the last sitting Democratic President to have a Democratic majority in control of both houses of Congress throughout a four-year term (and how old were you IF you were already born at the time)?

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