NYT: G.O.P. May Harness Arctic Drilling to Pentagon Budget

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - With a budget-cutting measure stymied by stiff resistance to opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, Congressional Republicans began exploring Wednesday a new tactic to win approval of both $45 billion in cuts and the drilling plan.

Lawmakers and senior aides said they were seriously considering tacking the drilling proposal onto a Pentagon spending bill that is among those that must pass before Congress heads home in the next few days. The switch, they said, could clear the way for approval of the spending cuts sought by conservatives and the Arctic drilling plan that is a priority of Republicans and the Bush administration, provided they could defeat any filibuster.

"It's going to be on one bill or the other before I go home," said Senator Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, a leading proponent of opening the Arctic plain to oil production.

As lawmakers grew more anxious about recessing for the Christmas holidays, Republican moderates in the House said they believed that the push for enacting the spending cuts by the end of the year was losing momentum and that the leadership was ready to postpone action until early next year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/15/politics/15cong.html

that $2.3 TRILLION dollars that's missing! http://www.wanttoknow.info/050310pentagontrillionslost