We'll know much more about what, if anything, Congress will be able to do with fiscal policy when returns from its two-week recess next week.

In the meantime, some of the plans that were discussed before the recess began, especially the possibility of Congress not completing a budget this year, may have to be abandoned in light of the new projection provided by the Congressional Budget Office that, contrary to what many on the Hill had hoped, the current debt ceiling will have to be raised before the election. (Here's what OMB Watch reported on the subject.)

OMB Director Jim Nussle announced today that the Bush fiscal 2009 budget, which will be submitted to Congress on February 4, will posted online and not provided in printed books to Congress, the media, and executive branch departments and agencies.  Here's the full Nussle statement.