Understanding what Washington is up to is as simple as one-two-three: 1. Unacceptable Choices Under President Obama’s leadership, Americans have been presented two unacceptable choices. For Washington to continue to pay its bills under the limitations of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA), which the President signed into law, …
President Obama’s latest speech laid out some policy retreads for tackling the tepid recovery, while he lectured Europe to get its act together. He is right about the sorry state of the U.S. economy, which has proven highly resistant, if not downright impervious, to his past stimulus efforts. And he …
The Obama Administration is piggybacking on claims made by MarketWatch’s Rex Nutting that Obama has not gone on the spending spree everyone thinks he has since taking office. As White House press secretary Jay Carney puts it, President Obama has exercised “significant fiscal restraint” and “acted with great fiscal responsibility.” …
There are six key elements to a successful federal government budget, including the plan released today by House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R—WI): Does it cut spending sharply and quickly? Does it begin decisive entitlement reform? Does it avoid any tax hikes? Does it ensure a strong national defense? …
Yesterday, Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D–MT) released a modified chairman’s mark on the Highway Investment, Job Creation and Economic Growth Act of 2012 (S. 1813). When combined with the other section of the bill, this draft transportation reauthorization bill would authorize the program for two years after the …
Clearly, the impact of President Obama’s proposal to consolidate parts of six trade agencies is tiny in comparison to the government’s $3.5 trillion in spending or its trillion-dollar-plus deficits. But if—and that is a big if, depending upon not-yet-available details—it represents a genuine step toward smaller, less costly, and more …
As the clock counts down toward Christmas, Congress still has major unfinished business to attend to. Not that we should be surprised. Emblematic of a resoundingly disappointing year, the last remaining issue to be resolved directly affects the pocketbooks of Americans. Just days from now, the payroll tax “holiday” will …
What’s a supercommittee to do? Total national debt just hit a new record at $15 trillion, an increase of approximately $700 billion since the Supercommittee’s August inception. Hard as its members try, they just do not seem to be able to deliver the required $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction measures. …
