Preparing ourselves for a new order. -- A spending bill addressing the deficit including something about abortions. Why not? It's a new day.

In days gone by we might have issued an APB to contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives to make sure they are aware that U.S. House and Senate negotiators tucked a potentially far-reaching anti-abortion provision into the $388 billion must-pass spending bill, complicating plans for Congress to wrap up its business and adjourn for the year.

But what the heck. Why waste the time issuing a warning, and who could we call for a sympathethic ear.

The House passed the spending bill with a 344-51 margin. Though not in doubt, passage is taking longer in the Senate because of the provision alluded to above making it easier for health-care providers to decline to provide abortions or offer counseling and referrals.

The final details of the spending measure were worked out before midnight Friday and that the bill was filed for the House vote on Saturday.

The measure itself is an imposing monument: The bill and an explanatory report, completed near midnight Friday, were about 14 inches tall, leaving many lawmakers baffled about its precise contents.

But the bill is also another kind of monument: A monument to the GOP's raw power in controlling the White House and Congress.

Welcome to the new order.

(Sources 11-20-04 New York Times and weekend wsj online.)