New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) promised during his campaign that he would balance the Empire State’s budget without increasing taxes or borrowing. Left untouched, the state’s $135 billion budget would otherwise result in $10 billion in deficit spending. This week, Cuomo appears to have taken the first step to …
The new Congress has made spending reduction a priority. This week, Members are getting to work on that promise. Yesterday, by a vote of 245–189, the House passed legislation to fully repeal Obamacare. The new health law represents unsustainable new spending, including an expansion of Medicaid and the creation of …
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 …
Last week, the co-chairs of the President’s deficit commission released a report of possible proposals for the commission’s final report. Recommendations included cuts to discretionary, mandatory, and defense spending as well as tax increases. The report was a good start to the debate and will gauge the readiness of lawmakers …
Reducing budget deficits by cutting government spending has a stronger record of economic stimulus than either reducing the deficit with tax increases or increasing government spending. That’s what Harvard economists Albert Alesina and Silvia Ardagna have found in their recent research. They examined 107 instances of large reductions (at least …
Last spring, President Obama proposed $11.3 billion worth of discretionary spending cuts. Today’s Washington Times notes that Congress accepted $6.9 billion worth of these cuts, a 61 percent success rate. In a $3.6 trillion federal budget, that comes to just 0.2 percent of the federal budget. But there is a …
On July 20th, The Heritage Foundation launched the Four Percent For Freedom Petition calling on President Obama and Congress to halt defense spending cuts. If Congress passes Obama’s budget, America will spend less on defense than before the September 11th attacks. This puts our men and women in uniform at …
