This Associated Press article notes what I wrote here yesterday morning about the annual spending process and the October 1 start of the new fiscal year:

If Congress spends $700 billion this week on a financial services bailout, at least we’ll know where that money went. Before the month is out, Congress will spend hundreds of billions more on heaven-knows-what.

The AP says:

The legislation is coming together in a remarkably secretive process in which decisions are concentrated in the hands of just a few lawmakers such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis. The unusual process means thousands of lawmakers’ pet projects of the very sort blasted by GOP presidential nominee John McCain on the campaign trail would escape scrutiny, including up to $5 billion worth of such “earmarks” in the defense budget alone.

Back to me:

The start of the new fiscal year is not a surprise to anyone, but Congress didn’t follow its own budget and spending processes and has created a spending mess to go along with the financial crisis.

Your Congress. Your representatives. Your crisis fatigue. You’re paying for it. Follow the action here.