In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we thought we would pause to give thanks for a few budgetary blessings and push the hefty challenges off the table for just a few days. We know they will be there when the tryptophan haze has worn off, so in the interim, here are a few items for which we give thanks:

The Turkey – After a strong fight, Defense Secretary Gates, the White House and the duo of Senate Armed Services Chairman Levin (D-MI) and Ranking Member McCain (R-AZ) worked together to finally end the procurement of the F-22 Raptor jet fighter. Stopping the procurement of this pricey cold war relic saved taxpayers $369 million this year and billions more in the future.

The Stuffing – For years we have called on lawmakers to disclose all their earmark requests – the special-interest sausage (line items) they try to stuff into bills. This year, Appropriations Committee Chairmen Sen. Inouye (D-HI) and Rep. Obey (D-WI) decreed that in order to get an earmark included in a spending bill, each member’s web site must disclose these chestnuts. This is a positive step toward more transparency.

The Wine – The financial sector bailout passed before Thanksgiving last year, but two effective watchdogs have emerged since then to make it more accountable and transparent. Both Special Inspector General Barofsky and Congressional Oversight Panel chair Elizabeth Warren did more than just whine about the shortcomings and problems of TARP (bailout): They shone a light on waste and abuse and pushed to make TARP more accountable and transparent.

The Gravy –The Royalty-in-Kind (RIK) program operated by the Minerals Management Service has been a constant area of abuse over recent years. Under this program, the royalties owed to taxpayers for oil or gas extracted from public lands could be paid in oil or gas instead of cash. Last year, the Department of Interior Inspector General caught several MMS employees in bed with industry – literally. This year, the Administration decided enough was enough and scrapped the program entirely.

Dessert – The traditional Thanksgiving dessert is pumpkin pie. But we think of this initiative more like a fruitcake – it's the gesture, not the tastiness, that counts. Congress and the Administration promised that the billions spent under the economic stimulus package would be the most transparent spending in history, and so www.recovery.gov was unveiled. We’re all for transparency, but the tracking features are falling short of their promise. To begin with, the site is difficult to navigate. Worse, significant portions of the data are obviously wrong (reporting 15 congressional districts in Arizona, for instance), which makes you question more of the data. We recognize this initiative was an enormous and important undertaking, so we say thanks for trying and encourage the Administration to redouble efforts to make it more accurate and improve ease of use.

Obviously this isn’t a complete Thanksgiving feast. We’re missing the mashed potatoes and cranberry relish, just to list a few staples. So next year we hopefully will have even more to be thankful for, but until then we will work off any extra holiday pounds exposing and fighting wasteful spending. Happy Thanksgiving!