According to CongressDaily (no link, sorry), unless the president concedes to major changes in his war policy, House Appropriations Chair David Obey (D-WI) said his committee won't report an FY 2008 war supplemental. Obey: I have absolutely no intention of reporting out of committee anytime in this session any such request that simply serves to continue the status quo.

Well, I've got just the thing- an encouraging article in the Washington Post this morning on fiscal policy! Here's House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), coming to grips with unequal economic growth: "There's no question the economy is good, but it's not a good for everybody," said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio.). "When you look at family incomes, there hasn't been much rise. But there has been increased health-care costs, increased energy costs. They're nibbling up more than the family budget. It just drives more concerns. "

Continuing Resolution Adopted: By 94-1, the Senate voted late yesterday to keep the government operating through Nov. 16, adopting an FY 2008 continuing resolution (CR) which will fund government programs at fiscal 2007 levels. The CR keeps funds flowing to federal programs whose authorizations lapse Sept. 30, including food stamps, the Federal Aviation Administration and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. As we noted, House passed the CR on Wednesday, 404-14. Debt Limit Increased:

==> NEWS ITEM (per Congress Daily, $): Yesterday, "the Bush administration upped its emergency war funding request to $192.8 billion and counting." The administration's standards for emergency supplemental appropriations -- as re-stated annually in the president's federal budget proposal since he took office, "are defined as follows:"

• necessary expenditure—an essential or vital expenditure, not one that is merely useful or beneficial
• sudden—quickly coming into being, not building up over time
• urgent—pressing and compelling, requiring immediate action