But Unable to 'Obey' His Own Demands House Appropriations chair Rep. David Obey (D-WI) is trying to forstall a government shutdown, negotiating details of a Continuing Resolution (CR) for Fiscal Year 2008 (which begins next Monday, Oct. 1) with newly-installed OMB director Jim Nussle. "I met with the President's budget director last week and informed him at that time that we intended to pass a clean C.R. I asked him if he would let me know if the administration had any exceptions that they wanted included and they sent us over a dozen changes that they wanted." "Changes" is another way of saying funding favors -- the kinds of additions that smudge an otherwise "clean" CR. Of course, some of these smudges can be the size of a mud pie. The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to learn how much more money is needed to account for the cost of troops the president plans to keep in Iraq through the spring as part of his "surge" strategy. So Obey was quietly trying to accommodate the president and his team last week, so as to avoid a CR veto, which would send the government hurtling toward shutdown upon the start of the 2008 fiscal year. Then comes President Bush, first thing Monday morning, demanding a clean CR from Congress, as though Obey and Nussle weren't starting with that presumption in their discussion. Immediately thereafter, Obey issues a press release: "President Bush's statement a few minutes ago telling the Congress to pass a clean continuing resolution is the equivalent of the rooster claiming credit for the sunrise."