Friends don't let friends read Wall Street Journal editorials, so regard this a must-not-read message to those otherwise interested in the lobbying, ethics, and earmark reform bill that Congress passed almost unanimously just before the August recess. Here's what you're not missing in today's Bush and Earmarks: a litany of factual misstatements, convenient omissions, and political advice so bad -- urging the president to veto the lobbying and ethics bill on account of its "sham earmarks reform provisions" -- that even George W. Bush will probably reject it.

GAO released a report today indicating that the Defense Department paid nearly all of $221 million in contract fees that were questioned by the Defense Contract Audit Agency. Lack of timely negotiations contributed significantly to DOD's decision on how to address the questioned costs—all 10 task orders were negotiated more than 180 days after the work commenced. As a result, the contractor had incurred almost all its costs at the time of negotiations, which influenced DOD's decision to pay nearly all of the questioned costs. ...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has announced that the Senate will vote on the nomination of Jim Nussle to be the new Director of the Office of Management and Budget on Monday, September 4 - the first day back from the August recess. Reid announced there will be three hours of debate on the nomination beginning at 2:30 pm. One hour each for the chairman and ranking member of the budget committee, and one hour controlled by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Sanders has announced a hold on Nussle's nomination because he has serious concerns about the nominee and his philosophical differences with the administration's fiscal policies. Sanders said: President Bush is completely out of touch with the economic realities facing working families in America. Bush needs to hear the truth, not an echo. He needs a budget director who will make him face the facts, not fan his fantasies.