The time wasted debating a balanced budget amendment would be better spent taking care of the House's long list of unfinished business, such as passing appropriations bills.
By tradition, the hundreds of appropriations inserted in the final days of the budget talks are listed on a document with minimal explanation of the purpose of each item and no totals or year-by-year comparisons.
President Reagan put the appropriation on a list of amendments to be eliminated but Mr. Weicker, as was his custom, ignored the President's recommendation and pushed the bill through.
Historically, the list of so-called exclusive committees has included appropriations, ways and means, and energy and commerce.
"The answer to policy makers' prayers," said the chair of appropriations in the House of Representatives of a midwestern state.
Methods: A list of candidate climate and health projects funded from FY 2008 budget appropriations were identified and characterized based on their relevance to climate change and health and based on climate pathway, health impact, study type, and objective.
He ruled that the Legislature's contention that appropriation bills should consist only of a list of numbers with short descriptions of their purpose would render that part of the Constitution meaningless.
The list of PMA's pals is topped by Mr. Visclosky, Representative John Murtha, the powerful defense appropriations subcommittee chairman, and Representative James Moran.
Last month, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, introduced an amendment to the multibillion-dollar Hurricane Sandy recovery appropriations bill that would explicitly place houses of worship on the list of qualified organizations.
The State Office of Policy and Management on Wednesday released a list of $170 million in spending reductions that fell under the governor's powers to rescind appropriations by up to 5 percent of any line item and 3 percent of any fund without seeking legislative approval.
