From a Washingtpon Post story about how the budget conferees are doing the citizens’ work of crafting a budget.
Both sides have offered some concessions, but there have been few face-to-face discussions. Instead, both sides gathered separately — munching on Oreo cookies and watching college basketball games late into the night — while their staffs traded written offers that were swiftly rejected as “insulting” or “inadequate.”
…The negotiations have been interrupted at times by end-of-session dinners with lobbyists, including the annual Wild Game dinner, at which Callahan and others had the opportunity to munch on black bear, goose, pheasant, rabbit and squirrel. The dinner’s motto: “Hey, if it walks, crawls, swims or flies, it may be there.”