Cliché corner   

"In this strategy, whether there is a messy, government-stopping ' train wreck ' this fall is less important to Clinton than making sure the Republicans are blamed for any such impasse." ( Los Angeles Times )

"Too many politicians on Capitol Hill are talking about a ' train wreck ,' as if we're dealing with toy trains..." ( Chicago Tribune )

"Indeed, the impact of next month's anticipated federal budget ' train wreck ' may be nothing compared with that of the time bomb that is ticking within Pentagon spending forecasts...." ( San Francisco Chronicle )

"Capitol Hill likes to call this a ' train wreck ,' but in years past it has more resembled kabuki theater...." ( Atlanta Journal and Constitution )

"The likelihood is that civil servants who survive or dodge the threatened train wreck still are in the path of a very big truck." ( Washington Post )

From more than 700 references to the federal
budgetary train wreck since August 1.