Rick Perlstein over at the Campaign for America's Future is keeping a watchful eye on a growing epidemic of sinkholes opening up all over the country. Decaying water and sewer pipes are to blame. Yes, sinkholes. Yes, in America. Yes, it's weird and gross. Perlstein also makes the connection to the anti-tax movement, in the sense that a smaller tax base has diminished the capacity of government to respond to public needs, like having level ground that doesn't cave in.

As expected, the House bid to override President Bush's veto of the war spending supplemental bill failed in a 222-203 vote this afternoon, well short of the short of the two-thirds needed to override the veto.

Congress' focus on the emergency war spending supplemental has come at the cost of momentum on the FY 2008 budget resolution. House Appropriations subcommittee chairs hope to meet the goal set by the Democratic leadership of having all 12 annual appropriations bills adopted by the July 4 recess, leaving the Senate and conference committees adequate time to complete the bills by Oct. 1, the start of FY 2008. So, while they wait for a vote on the conference committee budget resolution, the Appropriations chairs are starting in on their spending bills. This creates a problem.