Check out Dana's latest in his TPM Cafe series on the budget process. This edition: the last few sticking points regarding the congressional budget resolution. It was over six weeks ago when the House and Senate passed their $2.9 trillion budget resolutions for the federal fiscal year starting on October 1, 2008 and projected budgets through 2012. Since then, the attention of most members of Congress has been on the war in Iraq and whether or how to end it.

The day after the House-Senate budget resolution conferees met last week to take up their delicate deliberations, the bull from the Bush china shop came barreling into the room -- thankfully, long after negotiators had left. But the portly bull, less than deft, issued threats that fell on deaf ears, bloviating to long-vacated room: ... it is timely to notify you that I will recommend the President veto any appropriations bill that exceeds his request until Congress demonstrates a sustainable path that keeps discretionary spending within the President's topline of $933 billion.

In a new report to be released next Monday, the Center for American Progress details the horrendous state of the federal contracting process. The report examines what is presently known about the potential size and scope of wasteful and corrupt contracting within the federal government, provides the new Congress with useful guidance for developing a broader understanding of the problem, and outlines some steps that might be taken to restore greater transparency and accountability to the use of public funds in the procurement process.

We tend not to venture over into monetary policy all that much, but it and fiscal policy are closely enough related that we thought we'd try. The non-news of the Fed's Free Market Open Committee's decision this week to hold the target Fed interest rate at 5.25 percent -- where it's been for the last year -- reflects some factors below, with a fiscal consequence noted further below. The Economists' View identifies these factors and notes behind the FMOC decision: