At this point, Americans on every imaginable side of the deficit debate agree that federal spending is out of control. Something must be done—but the question is, what, and how, and by whom? Lawmakers on Capitol Hill talk about deficit reduction an awful lot—so why haven’t they done anything about …
In New York, facing a $9 billion deficit, state legislators put welfare on the chopping block to head off a government shutdown. Lawmakers in New Jersey avert their own shutdown in a ninth-hour budget deal that manages to save $22 million for adults on welfare. Meanwhile, in budget-busting California, welfare …
Senators Sanders (I-VT), Harkin (D-IA) and Whitehouse (D-RI) are circulating a bill that would drastically increase the death tax at the worst possible time: such a policy move would be a body blow to a weakly recovering economy and would clearly signal to everyone that this Congress has no intention …
Over the past weekend Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Majority Leader, gave one of the most expansive and surprising speeches of the year. State-of-the-Unionesque in scope and partisan tone it nevertheless laid out some interesting ideas for debate. On one top tier issue Mr. Hoyer hit the nail on the …
This upcoming Saturday, AmericaSpeaks, a non-partisan organization devoted to re-energizing democracy in the U.S., will hold a nationwide discussion on the federal budget and runaway spending in Washington. Americans with all viewpoints are encouraged to make their voices heard regarding this crucial aspect of America’s future. With the president’s National …
In February, we reported that in 2010, Social Security would start running deficits in 2010. Well, Social Security deficits have officially arrived, as analyst Michael Barone lays out in the Washington Examiner: Social Security tax receipts for the first half of 2010: $346.9 billion; Social Security benefits payments for the …
Washington’s runaway gusher of spending makes the Deepwater Horizon disaster look small and simple to stop. Congress is debating another irresponsible round of extra spending (although they refuse to call it “son of stimulus”) before they take a Memorial Day break. The measure would add an estimated $84-billion (or perhaps …
Today President Obama’s deficit commission met for the second time and the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Congressional Accountability and Line-Item Veto Act of 2009, which would give the President greater authority to control federal spending. Heritage expert Alison Fraser testified before the Committee on the likely …
David Ignatius’ latest column “How debt imperils national security” could not get the issue of spending and national security more wrong. He starts off fine asserting that there is “consensus among national security experts inside and outside the Obama administration: To play an effective role in the world, the United …
The president’s debt commission had its first meeting this week, and all of the talk was of getting serious about putting our fiscal house in order, with everything “on the table” for consideration. There’s no arguing with the need to get serious. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), if …
