Status Of Appropriations -- It's A Trainwreck

From The Hill:

Senate Republicans refused to meet Democrats Tuesday on spending ...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered the majority’s plans with a proposal that would require Democrats to accept virtually all of President Bush’s demands on spending.

McConnell demanded that Democrats also provide $70 billion for the war with no strings attached. ...

The majority leader disdained McConnell’s proposal, noting that an earlier Republican effort to increase war funding without restrictions failed to pass. [Senate Majority Leader] Reid was not ready to accept an across-the-board funding cut to pare the omnibus to Bush’s ceiling. ...

Democratic House leaders, including Pelosi, Hoyer and Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.), met Tuesday to discuss strategy. Pelosi also met Reid to discuss spending and taxes.

But they do not appear to have decided how to break the impasse. ...

Obey has proposed reducing the cost of the omnibus to Bush’s proposal and cutting all lawmakers’ earmarks to spare a variety of programs from cuts. He hopes rank-and-file Republicans will press their leaders to accept higher domestic spending to save projects slated for their districts, said a Democratic aide.

Reid was not embracing that idea when asked about it Tuesday.