New evidence reveals the continued power of Edwards’ Budget Law over government policymaking. The law holds that government projects will end up costing at least twice what policymakers initially claim. The policymaking trick is that by the time the full cost is revealed to taxpayers, it’s too late–the project has become too entrenched to be reversed.

• From the Washington Post today (“Sports Complex’s Costs Skyrocketing”): “Now that the Arlington County Board has finalized the last land-use deal needed to build a long-awaited sports complex near Crystal City, officials are scrambling to come up with the money to pay for the entire facility, which could exceed $100 million … Initial projections put the cost of the complex at $50 million. But a rapid increase in construction costs has put the planned 119,000-square-foot aquatic center out of reach of the $50 million bond approved by voters in 2004.”

I wonder where Arlington policymakers will “scramble” to for the other $50 million. Taxpayers perhaps?

• From the National Journal’s CongressDaily today: “The USDA needs at least twice and possibly four times the $50 million Congress provided to implement the new farm bill, including the new average crop revenue program and disaster aid, Agriculture Secretary Schafer and his deputies said Wednesday.”

The extra costs stem from the USDA’s apparent need to modernize its “antiquated computer system” to process all the new subsidies promised by the bill. That a department which spends more than $90 billion each year has an antiquated computer system is beyond belief.