Cracks in the Budget Control Act’s (BCA) spending caps are growing more visible as negotiators near completion of the first three appropriations bills for fiscal year (FY) 2012. Unless the House changes course, appropriations could be sailing toward a breach of the BCA limits and a debilitating freeze on defense …
Among the more egregious failings of the Budget Control Act (BCA)—the proxy fiscal plan spawned by the summer’s debt ceiling debate—are a pair of gaping loopholes allowing Congress effectively to blow through the agreement’s advertised spending limit. The Senate has already begun to exploit one of these openings. The House …
The Heritage Foundation yesterday launched its fiscal year (FY) 2012 Appropriations Tracker, which monitors the progress of appropriations bills as they move through the House and Senate. The tracker will be updated regularly to reflect the most recent status of these discretionary spending bills as they progress through each chamber. …
Although differences over the continuing resolution (CR) that failed in the Senate Friday seem absurdly small, the stakes may indeed be significant—and not just because of the threat of a government shutdown. The legislation is the first test of Congress’s will to cut spending, at least within the limits of …
During his Rose Garden speech Monday, the President claimed that his new “debt reduction” plan would provide $2 of spending cuts for every $1 of tax increases. A closer look at the administration’s own numbers, however, suggests the President, well, exaggerated. A realistic assessment—based mainly on table S-6 of the …
