America needs to change course. Our current direction is fiscally and economically unsustainable and politically and culturally bankrupting. It is threatening the well-being and future of our country. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R–WI) budget proposal, for the first time in recent memory, sets our nation on a different and better path. It tackles the massive spending excesses of the recent past and the entitlement crisis that is beginning to command our fiscal future. It rejects the politics of government dependence, massively higher taxes and the inevitability of national …
You’d think that billions of dollars in government spending would be hard to hide, especially from the Members of Congress who voted for it. Think again. Buried in the 2,700 pages of last year’s Obamacare legislation lies $105 billion in appropriated funds that bureaucrats are already using to implement Obamacare. On Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) brought that news to light when the subject turned to budget cuts. REP. MICHELE BACHMANN: …There was a Congressional Research Service report that just was issued in February, and we discovered …
Billions of dollars in potential oil revenue that could help close the federal deficit is being lost as a result of President Obama’s anti-drilling agenda. Production in the Gulf of Mexico — which normally accounts for about 30 percent of all U.S. production — is expected to drop this year by 220,000 barrels per day, according to projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. With oil currently at $90 a barrel and the royalty rate at 18.75 percent, that equals $3.7 million in lost revenue each day. If the agency …
When now-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) was sworn in as Speaker on January 4, 2007, the national debt stood at $8.67 trillion. By the time Pelosi surrendered the gavel to Speaker John Boehner (R–OH) yesterday, the national debt stood at $14.01 trillion. At $5.34 trillion, that means Speaker Pelosi added more than $1 trillion in debt per year during her tenure as Speaker. And yet she has the audacity to tell reporters Tuesday: “Deficit reduction has been a high priority for us. It is our mantra, pay-as-you-go.” Only someone …
The 111th Congress is officially over, and according to Gallup, it’s also officially the worst Congress in the history of polling. Yet despite its 13% approval rating there are those who are hailing the 111th Congress for its myriad legislative “accomplishments.” Not surprisingly, many of those touting those “accomplishments” are the very members of Congress who voted for the legislation in the first place. Starting at the top with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), you find a woman who is not at all ashamed of the legislation she has passed, despite …
Republicans and Democrats can always agree on spending more money. Their default position is usually not to cover costs. But if they must, there’s one sure-fire political no-brainer: make foreigners pay. After all, they can’t vote. Next year, as Congress begins to take a closer – perhaps serious – look at the budget deficit, foreigners are going to be very tempting targets. Increased visa fees for high-skilled Indian workers were the way to pay for border security this year. And yesterday, admittedly after threatening far more damage, Congress extended the …
Pity the poor euro. It’s a currency, but it’s asked to be so much more. More, indeed, than any currency can possibly be. The euro was born to glorious pomp and circumstance just 12 years ago, replacing a gaggle of currencies (including the mighty German D-Mark) with a single currency and replacing a collection of central bankers with one powerful voice, the European Central Bank. The intended advantages of a single currency for all of Europe were obvious enough—no more internal exchange rates, no need to carry multiple currencies, no …
Update – 9:00PM: Earlier this evening, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) decided against proceeding with the omnibus bill, promising instead to pursue a short-term continuing resolution. As we reported this week, Congress is considering a new $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill. This 2,000 page monster is the result of a refusal by Congress to pass a budget and a partisan desire to bind the hands of the next Congress with an expansive spending bill rather than a short-term continuing resolution. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) office has demonstrated how a simple, one-page …
Brand-new Congressmen don’t take office until January, but they’re already consumed with worry about the national debt. They’ll be faced with a vote expected next year to raise the debt ceiling beyond its current $14.3-trillion (about $47,000 apiece for everyone in America). The current $14.3-trillion debt ceiling has almost doubled since May 27, 2003, when it was set at $7.4-trillion. Projections show we’ll reach our credit limit around May of 2011, pushed along by three straight years of trillion-dollar deficits, including an expected $1.5-trillion this year. Congress should not feel …
In advance of today’s vote on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform’s report, there has been increased attention on the nation’s fiscal health and the serious dangers posed by our out-of-control national debt. But while this issue has garnered increased scrutiny, some continue to ignore the real cause of our debt and deficit problems—rampant spending—focusing instead on raising taxes. The debt commission’s recommendations are a perfect example. Heritage today put out a comprehensive WebMemo analyzing this problem with the report, noting that while it contains modest reforms, it …
