Some War funding after all?

Some background: The administration has asked Congress for funds to prosecute the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The House passed a $50 billion spending bill, but conditioned the money on withrawal of troops. The Senate has been unable to pass its version of the bill, and the President has asked for a clean bill without troop-withdrawal conditions. The failure to provide funding has forced the Army to begin preparations for layoffs of civilians and contractors. Some union contracts require 60 days notice, so some layoff notices would need to go out before Christmas.

MSNBC is now reporting that Speaker Pelosi is saying that there will likely be money in an end of year spending bill targeting civilian Defense Department employees. They also might condition the money as limited to Afghanistan operations, and not Iraq operations.

Congress certainly has the power to do this, due to its constitutional power of the purse, but it must realize that its continual delays make it difficult for federal agencies to plan for the fiscal year (oh, by the way, the current fiscal year is nearly one quarter over and most federal agencies do not know how much they may spend).

People keep asking me when I will leave for Kuwait. I had thought it would be around now, but now it is looking more like after the beginning of the new year.