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. …
Seventy-two Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Representatives Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Jim Jordan (R-OH), have joined 33 U.S. Senators in standing tall against continued overspending, overborrowing and overtaxing. In a letter today to the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, known as the Supercommittee, the 72 …
Yesterday, the United States hit an unsavory milestone–$15 trillion in total national debt. Unfortunately, the number shouldn’t have come as a surprise. America’s debt has been growing at a rapid clip. How bad is America’s spending problem? Heritage’s Alison Fraser, Patrick Knudsen and Mackenzie Eaglen put it into context: At …
The debt-limit deal this summer guaranteed a vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment this year. As the House and Senate prepare to vote, there is concern among conservatives that lawmakers will act on a proposal that includes weaker language than others. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) spoke at Heritage today about …
What did America’s founders say about economic inequality? Rather than unload statistics about the reality of inequality in America today, which we have done on other occasions, this post considers inequality based on the economic principles on which our republic was founded. These principles remind us why economic inequality is …
What happens if the “super committee” fails to meet its target of $1.5 trillion in budget savings by Thanksgiving and sequestration is triggered? It would spell doomsday for the military, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warns. In letters sent to Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Panetta said that under the …
The Heritage Foundation has consistently urged, and continues to urge, that the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, known as the Supercommittee, “go big” with its recommendations, to “drive federal spending down — including by fixing ever-expanding entitlement programs — toward a balanced budget, while preserving our capability to …
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 …
The left continues to resist any suggestion of spending cuts right now. In their view, a depressed economy is no time to slash spending; that would only further weaken demand. The successful austerity policies adopted in response to the downturn of 1920, however, offer a clear rebuttal to this notion. …
