Right now the latest installment in an apparently never-ending series of off-budget-down-payment-without-oversight-emergency-appropriation bills is heading for the Senate floor.  The total bill is $106 Billion.  This omnibus bill is for Iraq and Katrina relief.  

In case you missed it, "emergency" was one of the adjectives.    We have been at war in Iraq for 3 years and no one has ever submitted a budget for the effort.    In fact, I don't think anyone has submitted an honest accounting for any of the money spent either.    I could understand the need for one "emergency" appropriation, but three years into a campaign that is slated to last indefinitely?   Some might consider that poor planning.    Others might consider it a great opportunity too good to pass up.    Consider this example from a recent Washington Post article:

Mississippi's two U.S.   senators included $700 million in an emergency war spending bill to relocate a Gulf Coast rail line that has already been rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina at a cost of at least $250 million.