One of the sad truths about the ongoing budget wars is that every time another member of Congress assures his or her constituency that further compromise with the other side is wrong, the legislative branch loses more power. It is not a loss of power to President Barack Obama and his political appointees so much as to mid-level budget and program officials within federal agencies. When elected officials cannot make decisions, they must defer to mid-level leaders and give them increased budget powers-called "reprogram-ming" in the jargon of appropriations-to make even the bare minimum of spending adjustments that are needed every fiscal year.
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