Has the sweltering DC heat gotten to Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-ND)? I'm searching for an explanation for his recent statement that the Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of U.S. households be extended at a cost of about $150 billion (and be offset in subsequent years*).

The travails of Scott Bloch are coming to a rather unsatisfying end.

There's much to criticize in President Obama's plan to cut non-security discretionary spending by five percent (of FY 2011 levels): That by the administration's own estimate, unemployment will be more than eight percent; that discretionary spending funds many important programs like providing nutrition to vulnerable children, protecting the public from lead-tainted toys and e. coli-tainted spinach, and putting police officers on the street; that there's mountains of unnecessary spending on security programs; and that over $1 trillion in IRS-administered spending will remain under the budget radar.

President Obama has proposed to Congress "a new, expedited tool to reduce unnecessary or wasteful spending," lining up on the side of so-called fiscal conservatives to enhance the Executive's ability to force Congress to vote on measures that cut federal spending.