In a series of newly updated reports presumably intended for new Members of Congress who are unfamiliar with basic features of the federal budget, the Congressional Research Service presented the very rudiments of the budget process. See:
Basic Federal Budgeting Terminology, November 26, 2012
Overview of the Authorization-Appropriations Process, November 26, 2012
Baselines and Scorekeeping in the Federal Budget Process, November 26, 2012
Budget Reconciliation Legislation: Development and Consideration, November 26, 2012
Entitlements and Appropriated Entitlements in the Federal Budget Process, November 26, 2012
Legislative Procedures for Adjusting the Public Debt Limit: A Brief Overview, November 26, 2012
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.
How the United States responds to China’s nuclear buildup will shape the global nuclear balance for the rest of the century.