(Adapted from this post at Crystal Gazing)
Fred Kaplan in Slate:
The FY 2008 budget does not include the cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Those costs are covered in the $95.5 billion emergency-spending bill, part of a supplement to the FY 2007 budget, over which the White House and Congress are currently quarreling.) (emphasis original)
That would be true if by 'not include(d)' he means $140+ billion in additional funding...
The FY08 National Defense Authorization Act just reported out of the House Armed Services Committee on a 58-0 vote (pdf) includes $ 140+ billion in "Authorization of Additional Appropriations for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom" (pdf - see Sections 1501-1517, starting on page 655). Almost $120 billion of the $140+ billion is for Iraq.
No benchmarks. No timetables. No withdrawal dates. No accountability. Approved unanimously.
That's right. While all sides posture and preen for advantage over the supplemental, Congress is quietly on track, without so much as a peep from anti-war groups or the reality-based community, toward approval of a benchmark- and timetable-free additional $140+ billion for Iraq and Afghanistan in the FY 2008 budget.
As far as I'm aware, this hasn't been discussed much here on the Internets and thought you all might want to know before this just sails through Congress.