Unless Congress acts, March 1 will trigger a $55 billion-per-year ($43 billion in 2013, as the fiscal cliff deal delayed the cuts for two months) cut in national defense, known as sequestration, which will weaken the United States’s ability to defend itself. But this does not have to happen; Congress …
A good test of whether the 113th Congress is likely to take budgeting seriously will come early this week, when the House considers the remainder of its Hurricane Sandy relief legislation. House conservatives are proposing several amendments that would cut enough spending to offset the $17 billion base bill (H.R. …
Leaders from New Jersey and New York blew up yesterday after House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) postponed a vote on an aid package related to Hurricane Sandy. But the bill is so loaded with pork projects that these officials should consider directing their anger at the Obama Administration, which is …
Transportation agencies and programs including the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Amtrak, and other transit stand to benefit handsomely from the Senate’s $60.4 billion Hurricane Sandy spending bill, which it will consider this week. Though cast as disaster relief, much of the bill’s spending would not reach …
The Hurricane Sandy relief bill racing through the U.S. Senate is a perfect example of the spend-now-save-later practices that are driving the government deeper in debt. Lawmakers cannot seem to find $55 billion in offsets to prevent a devastating cut in national defense, but they can easily whip up $60.4 …
Exotic dancers, robotic squirrels, and a reality TV show in India—your tax dollars supported all of these this year. Two reports just released—“Federal Spending by the Numbers 2012” by The Heritage Foundation and “Waste Book 2012,” a report by the office of Senator Tom Coburn (R–OK)—shed light on these and …
Last Friday, the House Appropriations Committee unveiled its revised spending plan for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2011. This continuing resolution would reduce discretionary spending by more than $100 billion compared to the spending levels requested in President Obama’s FY 2011 budget proposal. Though enacting serious spending reductions is …
