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  • Budget 2011

    Yes, Real Cuts in Continuing Resolution, But Still Far Short of House Budget

    One of the most crucial issues confronting the nation is the debt and spending crisis. Standard & Poor’s downgraded the nation’s credit rating in August, while Moody’s put the U.S. on watch for a possible future downgrade. America is hemorrhaging debt, and bold steps are needed now to get spending under control. Toward that end, the House passed one of the boldest budget plans in decades this past spring. It was a clear statement outlining the steps we must take to stem the toxic red ink spilling across the federal … More

    The Obama Budget: Expanding the Welfare state and Undermining Marriage

    President Obama’s budget outlines a plan to pay states to grow their welfare roles and eliminate efforts to fight family breakdown in low-income communities. Despite the fact that low work hours and fatherlessness are two of the greatest contributors to poverty in the United States, the newly released budget provides incentives for states to increase the size of their caseloads and also wipes out funding for healthy marriage programs that aim to decrease the number of children growing up in single-parent homes. Prior to 1996, the federal government increased a … More

    Morning Bell: Is Now Really the Time To Create a New $2.5 Trillion Entitlement?

    In theory, the federal government has $2.5 trillion stashed away in a nondescript office building in the sleepy little town of Parkersburg, West Virginia. That is where the Treasury Department keeps stacks of nonnegotiable Treasury bonds payable to the Social Security Administration. But as the Associated Press reported yesterday, for the first time since the 1980s, the federal government will not be adding to that stack. Thanks to an aging population and slow economy, Social Security will pay out $29 billion more this year than it takes in. And the … More

    Coast Guard Deserves More Than a Thank You

    On Wednesday, President Obama praised America’s servicemembers for their remarkable response to the crisis in Haiti. He included the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard in an appropriate acknowledgment.  These exceptional men and women deserve all our gratitude and appreciation for their tireless work at home and around the globe. A useful way to truly thank them is for Congress and the Administration to provide all the necessary resources for those in uniform to get the job done quickly while minimizing losses and maximizing mission success. Unfortunately, … More

    Budget 2011: Freezing Opportunity – New Budget Means the End of School Choice for Many

    The president’s proposed FY2011 budget increases funding to the Department of Education by $3.5 billion. But despite this significant increase, his budget effectively cuts the freedom of choice and educational opportunities from the lives of children living in the District of Columbia. What began last year as a low-profile attempt to quietly phase out the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program has become a noticeable agenda of denying school choice to District families. Representative John Boehner wrote about the administration’s decision today: “President Obama’s job-killing budget does away with school choice in … More

    Budget 2011: Past Deficits vs. Obama’s Deficits in Pictures

    UPDATE: This graph is now over one year old. For up to date information see this post: The Truth about Obama’s Budget Deficits, in Pictures UPDATE: Chart revised 5/14/2010 Releasing his budget this Monday, President Barack Obama told the American people: We won’t be able to bring down this deficit overnight, given that the recovery is still taking hold and families across the country still need help. … Just as it would be a terrible mistake to borrow against our children’s future to pay our way today, it would be equally … More

    Budget 2011: Crushing Dreams for DC Vouchers Students

    President Obama’s FY2011 budget confirms his administration’s plans to phase out the successful D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. There are two clear indicators of this in the budget: the elimination of future funding for the program and the effective consolidation of the “three-sector approach” into two sectors. With regard to the elimination of funding, page 1244 states: The Budget proposes to continue to provide private school vouchers for only those students currently enrolled in the program…it is expected that this will be the final request for Federal funding to support the … More

    Budget 2011: Another Taxpayer-Funded Medicaid Bailout

    As President Obama’s recently-released budget for 2011 reveals, with or without a health care reform bill, Medicaid stands to receive a big, taxpayer-funded bailout.  Again.  The 2011 Budget includes $25 billion in additional funding for state Medicaid programs as an extension of the bailout that was included in the 2009 economic stimulus bill. As Heritage analysts Dennis Smith and Nina Owcharenko argued then, depending on federal bailouts to carry Medicaid through economic hardships is bad policy. The stimulus bill provided increased federal matching rates for Medicaid programs in all fifty … More

    Budget 2011: New Money, Old Ways in the State Department Budget

    Increasing spending on the State Department and international affairs while freezing discretionary domestic spending is probably not likely to endear President Obama further to constituencies on either side of the Congressional aisle. Yet, the State Department is one of the few winners in President Obama’s FY 2011 budget request, continuing a five year commitment made last year to increase capacity at Foggy Bottom. The way the funding request is structured tells you much about the President’s priorities in foreign policy, which hold fairly closely to traditional Democratic priorities. It certainly … More

    Morning Bell: A Budget for a European Welfare State

    Last Friday, President Barack Obama accepted an invitation from House Republicans to speak and answer questions at the Republican House Issues Conference. During the Q&A period, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) pressed the President: The spending bills that you’ve signed into law, the domestic discretionary spending has been increased by 84 percent. You now want to freeze spending at this elevated level beginning next year. … So my question is, why not start freezing spending now?” President Obama replied: “The fact of the matter is, is that most of the increases in … More