"There is no specific mention of a 'Vote-a-Rama' in the Constitution, which is probably because the Framers could not have imagined what happened in the Senate yesterday: The chamber's 100 members gathered and, in a frenzy of legislative activity, did their darnedest to empty the Treasury. It was the political equivalent of going on a shopping spree the same day you get a credit-line increase on your over-the-limit card. In the morning, the senators increased the federal debt limit by $800 billion, to $9 trillion - that's with a T. In the afternoon came the Vote-a-Rama, a carnival in which the lawmakers took turns pitching scores of amendments to the 2007 budget measure, most calling for more money for favorite programs."
-Dana Milbank

QUICK FRIDAY NEWS:
* Republicans have second thoughts no Bush's pro-democracy crusade.
* The Republican backlash in Congress has been brewing for a while.
* E.J. Dionne Jr. on the Democrats' scramble.
* More on Ginsberg and the Supreme Court death threats.
* Charles Krauthammer on gay marriage and polygamy.
* Eugene Robinson on Condi Rice as the (un)candidate.
* More on the lawyer who botched the Moussaouicase.
* Wait, they weren't pardoned decades ago?

"The Pentagon's defence scientists want to create an army of cyber-insects that can be remotely controlled to check out explosives and send transmissions."

Today's headline: How William Shatner Changed the World