In a tussle worthy of a schoolyard, the spending bosses in the House of Representatives have decided to hang up their cleats and go home. Associated Press is reporting that instead of a fast and furious July full of spending bills and earmarks, we are only going to hear crickets. Believe it or not, if this continues, taxpayers are going to be the losers in this game. Let us explain how we got here.

Right before the July 4th recess a battle erupted during consideration of the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education (Labor-H) spending bill. The day started with tributes and niceties about retiring members, but then Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), the ranking Republican on the committee, tried to extract a commitment from Chairman David Obey (D-WI) that the Interior spending bill would go forward as scheduled on July 9th (it had been rescheduled once before). Chairman Obey replied that if he wanted to set the schedule, Lewis should get more Republicans elected so he could be Chairman.

After this exchange, the committee turned to the Labor-H bill and Rep. Lewis offered an amendment. Pretty common stuff, except the amendment was to throw away the Labor-H bill and replace it with the Interior spending bill. And Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) quickly followed up with an amendment to allow offshore drilling. It became clear that there was going to be little done but a parade of Republican amendments, so the Democrats adjourned the committee.

You would think that after some parades and fireworks over the 4th of July recess, both parties would come back and take up the people's business. Instead it appears that both sides have dug in their heels and plan to close up shop. The start of the fiscal year is less than three months away and none of the 12 spending bills have been considered on the floor of either chamber.

You might think that a budget watchdog would be cheering this budgetary train wreck. But the problem is the spending bills will eventually get done, if not in September, then in November, or December, or even February with a new occupant in the Oval Office. The problem is the longer Congress waits to take up these bills, the more likely they will be done quickly, in the dark of night and with very little time for review or evaluation. And that inevitably leads to waste. Even with its flaws, “regular order” means the bills are out there for public review as they move down the spending track.

Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Lewis need to sit down, make things work and return to the people's business.