But each of those distasteful choices was not random. In fact, each was carefully chosen by both Democrats and Republicans through months of negotiations. Years ago, setting priorities and making difficult choices is what was known as legislating.
In that way, this spending bill could be a positive sign.
Of all the many changes that have swept Congress during the past 20 years, one of the least talked about outside Washington is how Congress actually does its job. This bill was a bit of a throwback. It was built the old-fashioned way – by appropriators making tough tradeoffs in back-room talks.
More recently, however, party leaders have taken over that process, cutting out the back-room negotiations. This has sped things up and has given leadership more control, but the tough tradeoffs have been avoided because, well, they’re tough. The result is that the minority party has little voice in budget-making and simply expected to take its lumps.
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