Remember how, mere months ago, the debt ceiling deal struck between Democrats and Republicans to avoid a government shutdown was touted as "an historic first step toward shifting government back toward common sense and conservatism"? The hope was that the spending caps in the deal would actually constrain spending. Well, it took less than two months for politicians to start evading the caps with an old trick: emergency spending.
In theory, there's nothing wrong with emergency spending. Rarely does a year pass without some unforeseen event requiring prompt access to federal funds. The supplemental spending process provides funding that cannot wait until the next appropriations cycle. When unexpected disasters strike, Congress should be able to deploy needed spending in a speedy and temporary way. That's what the emergency designation allows.
