The title this morning came from a minor disagreement out on the balcony at Big Pink just before dawn. There is plenty of stuff to get excited about, and word from the Chairman’s staff was to “keep it upbeat and celebrate the season.” We are in favor of that, but that gentle management admonition turned out to be a hard bit of guidance to follow.

There were a couple public policy issues that were nagging. A couple of us, once past our useful martial years, wound up as Budget Geeks in a couple buildings on both sides of the big River that defines one edge of our capital. It was a big deal in our times, both here and over there.

We were talking about the stuff we used to do. The old process started with a Budget roll-out by the Executive in Charge to display the President’s goals and aspirations in the Spring when life is flowing into our little patch of land around flowing water rather than out of it. The Budget would then be parsed out to the Committees and sub-committees responsible for overseeing the various numbers contained in the proposal. It would then be debated in hearings and closed-door meetings, eventually being wrapped into one of the twelve separate appropriations to be reviewed by the two chambers on The Hill. There, it would be carefully scrutinized, debated, and eventually passed in some form before going back to the President’s Resolute Desk for signature.

Back when we were functionaries in the process there was a song we liked. The key words in the rock anthem were sung by a band named “Dire Straits.” They were simple: “Money for Nothing….” were three words followed by other words about improbable things. It was fun.
The air this morning is filled with crisp Canadian air, provided free by our friends in the north, and there are other songs of the season. All of us joined in the spirit of merry joy abroad in our land. Splash was prepared to don some [REDACTED] apparel and continue to sing the unseasonal song. “I want my MTV…”

That brought some laughter, since no one had with wanted or watched that channel in quite some time. He got to the refrain that caused Melissa to look up suspiciously to see if he was going to do the part that now would be interpreted as “patriarchal” or something. Hearing the the words he had already uttered, she rose and said: “It isn’t for nothing. In fact, it is nothing, didn’t we run out of it last Friday?”

The term “money” naturally got Buck’s attention, since he is an economist by training. He may not be teaching any more, but he is still involved with how things flow. “We ran out of money on the 16th of December,” he said solemnly. “That is a function of the fact that Congress could find nothing on which to agree when the actual Fiscal Year of 2022 ran out on the first of October.”
Loma is a literal sort of fellow and unused to operating on free things, since in his experience, they usually aren’t. “The weekend wasn’t bad, and they let us run stuff up on the credit cards. Monday was kind of odd, though. It was a working day and the Federal Government had no money. So it all must have been free.”

Buck was the only one who laughed. “Nope. Our representatives raised the debt ceiling or something. We aren’t completely sure what, and they were talking about other important things like the border. The Supreme Court finally said something about that. So, whatever got spent actually went on the Government’s credit card.”

“Is that the one that we used to pay off every month? I looked it up. The government spends about $73 Billion per week, or a little over seven billion bucks a day.”

“And we don’t even have a budget. So Dire Straits was right. Money for nothing.”

“Nope, like everything else, there is a provision for that in the debt ceiling. So, there not be a budget, but everything is fine and we can assume something like a budget will get a paper stamp and seasonal mirth and merriment will go on just like it always does.”
Splash looked a little confused, which is usual on Mondays but not so much on Tuesdays. “OK, so we couldn’t get to a carefully reviewed annual budget for the fiscal year that began almost a quarter of a year ago. So up on The Hill they did something else. What was it? When we run out of money that is usually a pretty big story.”

“Not any more. The Government is a self generating perpetual motion machine now. They did something to permit spending to go on, even without an actual budget. See, there are three types of appropriations bills. Regular ones that go through debate and are passed by October first of each year. If they can’t do that, and they haven’t for most of this new century, they can pass a ‘continuing resolution’ that means they can just keep doing what they were doing.”

Splash was looking discombobulated. “So what happens if that isn’t enough? Or we have to do something different because nothing seems to be working?”

Buck lowered his head for a moment before continuing. “They can pass what they call a “supplemental appropriation,” which is added to the stuff that is continuing without discussion. That is what just happened to the National Defense Authorization. That went up around $50 Billion for stuff that is really important but didn’t come up while everything else was continuing.”

“Thanks. Just to be clear, a ‘billion’ is a thousand ‘million,’ right? That meets our generous spirit of the season. But shouldn’t we call it Money for Something? We just don’t know what it is.”

“That is completely in line with the Season. It is like a Christmas present. It is supposed to be a surprise.”

That one finally got some seasonal laughter in which everyone participated. We are sincere about that, since the surprise will be the one that will happen when our Grandkids get to open it someday. Now all we have to do is pass a continuing resolution or something.”

“Continuing what?”

“Everything we used to to do, plus we can continue to supplement.”

Buck was starting get annoyed. “The reconciliation package is what they are calling it, to reconcile the differences in imaginary budgets for a year that is already well underway. The Senate calendar is clogged, and that could delay passage until January.”
“Of what year? Does that matter?”

“Actually, you have put your finger right on it. We will continue to spend and supplement as required.”
“So Christmas will happen?”

“Of course. And Loma and Rocket found out how to say it in Hawaiian for authenticity. “Mele Kalikimaka” for the first part.”
Melissa smiled broadly. “And then what will supplement that?”

“We continue to hope for a “Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!”

“No supplemental appropriation is required for a Happy New Year spoken in the lovley Island tongue. We can just continue the resolution!”

There was laughter, and it being a holiday week, we thought going out to lunch might be the supplement we can all get behind! Or in front of, depending on which year we are talking about.

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