Years ago, the president's budget was not considered to be worththe paper it was printed on.

It's not widely published on paper anymore, but its value hasnot increased.

Under federal law, the president is required to send a budget toCapitol Hill. It's supposed to outline his priorities for theyear.

President Trump mercifully sent an abridged version this year,as presidents normally do in the first year of theirpresidency.

The Trump budget has a lot of cuts very popular programs:Community Development Financial Institutions, The NationalEndowment for the Arts, The National Institutes of Health.

And one big increase: Defense.

As usual, the folks on Capitol Hill will hold hearings on theTrump budget. And then, they will ignore most of it.

Some of Congress's most beloved programs are cut or eliminated.And even some that members of Congress don't like (EPA programs),they'll be scared to cut — afraid of angering constituents backhome.

Members of Congress love reminding everyone that they, not thepresident, hold the power of the purse.

Decisions on funding programs are made by the AppropriationsCommittees in each House.

The late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.), the longtime chairman of theSenate Appropriations Committee, carried a copy of the U.S.Constitution in his jacket pocket just so he could wave it aroundand remind everyone who controlled the checkbook.

Members of Congress don't like the Office of Management andBudget and other cabinet officials messing with their powers.

During the early years of the George W. Bush administration,Mitch Daniels of Indiana served as OMB Director. Appropriatorsbelieved that Daniels was messing too much in the appropriationsprocess and the two sides were constantly shooting at eachother.

At one point, I asked Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens(R-Alaska) how Daniels could improve relations withappropriators.

“Go back to Indiana,” the usually grumpy chairman snapped.

For years, presidents sought cuts in an education program calledImpact Aid, which compensates localities for property taxes theylose as a result of federal lands. Public education is largelyfunded through property taxes.

The presidents then proposed using the savings on otherpriorities or on reducing the federal deficit.

But all the while, the chief executives knew that the Impact Aidprogram was not going to be cut because the chairman of theappropriations subcommittee that wrote the House version of theeducation funding measure was Rep. William Natcher, a KentuckyDemocrat.

Natcher's district included Fort Knox, which had a lot of gold,but did not pay property taxes.

And so, Impact Aid was not going to be cut.

Republican presidents generally don't like the CommunityDevelopment Block Grant program, which provides funds to localgovernments for projects such as community and economic developmentprojects.

But the programs live on, in part, no doubt because members ofCongress do enjoy groundbreaking and ribbon-cutting ceremonies forprojects funded through the CDBG program.

So, when Congress gets around to deciding how to fund federalprograms for Fiscal 2018, the funding levels aren't going to lookanything like what Trump has proposed.

Because while most presidential budgets are DOA, this one'sdeader than most.

While we're on the subject of Washington's silly ways, there'salso the subject of bill naming.

That somewhat bizarre tradition gained the spotlight againrecently, as Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) recently introduced H.R.1275, entitled the “World's Greatest Healthcare Bill of 2017.”

Naming bills is an art in Washington.

Transportation legislation has been notorious for havingridiculous and convoluted names.

In the 1990s, Congress enacted the Intermodal SurfaceTransportation Efficiency Act of 1991 or ISTEA. Of course, when youpronounce that acronym, it becomes ICTEA.

Several years later, Congress enacted the “Safe, Accountable,Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy forUsers.”

That certainly is a mouthful and is convoluted. But thelegislation became known as SAFETEA-LU.

Why was the LU added at the end? The chairman of the HouseTransportation Committee, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) was payingtribute to his late wife, whose name was “Lu.”

And of course, there's the Financial CHOICE Act — the Dodd-Frankoverhaul bill that's again expected to be introduced by HouseFinancial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas).

What does the CHOICE stand for? It means “Creating Hope andOpportunity for Investors, Consumers and Entrepreneurs.”

The name appears to be an acronym in search of words, doesn'tit?

Sometimes, legislation just takes on the name of the bill'sprimary co-sponsors.

And so, the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and ConsumerProtection Act” became Dodd-Frank.

Why was the long-ago enacted banking law known asGlass-Steagall? It was named after its primary congressionalco-sponsors, Senator Carter Glass andRep. Henry Steagall.

Even naming legislation after sponsors can get silly.

In 1994, Reps. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) and Jennifer Dunn (R-Wash.)pushed a plan to require community notification of sexual predatorsadded to a comprehensive crime bill.

The proposal became known as “Dunn-Deal.”

The ultimate legislation did not go as far as the legislatorswanted, so the Dunn-Deal wasn't done.

David Baumann is a Correspondent-at-Large forCU Times. He can be reached at [email protected].