We all know that those stinky old Democrats put partisanship before the national interest in a time of terrorism by not acceding to anti-union provisions in the bill to create a Department of Homeland Security, right? Well, apparently putting partisanship before the national interest in a time of terrorism is, as they say, OK if you're a Republican. From today's New York Times (emphasis mine):

Because of disputes over spending levels, Congress has cleared only 2 of the 13 appropriations bills for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1....

Members of the appropriations committees had hoped to use the lame-duck session to pass at least a few of the spending measures. They were overruled by Republican leaders, who would prefer to wrap up the session in a matter of days and wait to confront the spending fight when they are firmly in control.

That decision, aides in both parties pointed out, means that billions of dollars for a variety of security initiatives and other programs will not be immediately available. Among the temporary casualties, they said, are more than $3 billion in grants for local emergency teams, $500 million for the Coast Guard and other spending related to stepped-up domestic security.