federal budget

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EJ Dionne: No, We're Not Broke -- Budget 'Crisis' Is Fake
 Budget 'Crisis' 
 Is Made-Up 
EJ DIONNE
Mar 14, 2011 1:52 PM CDT

Budget 'Crisis' Is Made-Up

It's an 'arresting metaphor' to push ideological agenda

(Newser) - We keep hearing that “we’re broke”—a good way for politicians to make a deceptive case for cutting taxes on the rich and cutting social programs. But the fact is, “we’re not broke,” writes EJ Dionne in the Washington Post . “Yes, nearly all...

We Want to Cut Foreign Aid— and Expand It

Americans think it's 25% of the budget. In fact, it's 1%, and it works: Ken Hackett

(Newser) - Americans think foreign aid should be the first casualty of budget-trimming, a poll shows—but we also want it to be 10 times what it is now. That’s because most Americans think foreign aid makes up a quarter of the federal budget, and want to cut it to 10%....

GOP Freshmen Learn Basics at 'Budget Camp'

Their homework: sell the plan in their own districts

(Newser) - Senior Republicans have an assignment for their 87 freshmen: Sell the party’s budget plan in your home districts. To that end, party leaders have been running a “boot camp” to teach the budget basics, with “listening sessions” run by senior lawmakers, Politico reports. But in a fiscally-focused...

What Would a Government Shutdown Really Mean?

Based on the last one: layoffs, delayed checks, interrupted services

(Newser) - If the looming government shutdown actually arrives next month, what can you expect? The Los Angeles Times offers a preview, by reporting what occurred during previous shutdowns:
  • Layoffs: During shutdowns in 1995 and 1996, hundreds of thousands of federal workers lost their jobs. Even federal employees who kept their jobs
...

Obama to Propose Middle-Ground Budget Cuts

Proposed cuts will reduce deficits by $1.1T over 10 years

(Newser) - The budget cuts President Obama will propose tomorrow likely won’t be as deep as Republicans want , but they will nonetheless promise $1.1 trillion in deficit reductions over the next decade, according to a senior administration official. Among the proposed areas to be affected in the fiscal 2012 budget:...

Obama Proposes Boosting Unemployment Tax

Companies would pay more to insure workers

(Newser) - President Obama’s proposed budget is expected to call for the first increase in unemployment taxes since 1983. Employers would, as of 2014, have to pay taxes on $15,000-worth of wages, up from the current $7,000, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move would give states a way...

Don't Like My Plan to Cut $500B? Then Do This...

Sen. Rand Paul offers challenge to those who don't like his proposal

(Newser) - Rand Paul is trumpeting his plan to cut $500 billion in spending once again , this time in the pages of the Wall Street Journal , where he calls his "a modest proposal when measured against the size of our mounting debt." He runs through its elements—he doesn't touch...

GOP Demands End to Expired Program
GOP Demands End to Expired Program
Nov 10, 2010 12:13 PM CST

GOP Demands End to Expired Program

Panel blasts $2.5B welfare initiative that no longer exists

(Newser) - In a drive to cut the deficit, a GOP committee called for an end to a $2.5 billion dollar welfare program this week—which might have been a clever move if the program hadn’t already expired, notes Arthur Delaney at the Huffington Post . The committee’s leader slammed...

US Intel Spending Breaks $80B
 US Intel Spending Breaks $80B  
Oct 29, 2010 8:36 AM CDT

US Intel Spending Breaks $80B

Spending revealed for first time this century

(Newser) - American intelligence spending hit $80.1 billion, or some 12% of defense spending, for the just-ended fiscal year—more than what was spent on either the Department of Homeland Security ($53 billion) or the Justice Department ($30 billion). It's triple the $26.7 billion that was budgeted in 1998, the...

What the Left Gets Wrong About the Tea Partiers

They're a lot more reasonable than liberals think, writes Ross Douthat

(Newser) - The left likes to paint the Tea Partiers as wingnuts, so it’s time to dispel some misconceptions, writes Ross Douthat. One myth: the Tea Party will be disastrous for the GOP. In fact—Rich Iott, Christine O'Donnell, and Carl Paladino aside—it's backed some very electable candidates, like Pennsylvania's...

Deficit Breaks $1T Again

 Deficit Breaks 
 $1T Again 
Oct 15, 2010 7:10 AM CDT

Deficit Breaks $1T Again

Budget gap shrinks, but is set to grow

(Newser) - The federal budget deficit is set to break a trillion dollars for the second year in a row, the Obama administration is set to report today. Officials foresee a deficit of $1.29 trillion for the 2010 budget year that ended Sept. 30, the AP reports, down from last year’...

Schools Win; NASA Loses



Schools Win; 
 NASA Loses  
budget ANALYSIS
Feb 1, 2010 5:31 PM CST

Schools Win; NASA Loses

First look at proposed 2011 budget shows sharp break between haves and have-nots

(Newser) - President Obama delivered his proposed 2011 budget to Congress today, and the Washington Post drills down to find the winners and losers. Winners first:
  • K-12 education: The Department of Education's budget will increase by 6%, or $3 billion.
  • Research: The proposal pumps up the Energy Department's budget 7%, or $2
...

Obama Readies $3.8T Budget With Record $1.6T Deficit

Record shortfall in current fiscal year would shrink to $1.3T in 2011

(Newser) - President Obama's proposed budget predicts the national deficit will crest at a record-breaking $1.6 trillion in the current fiscal year, then start to recede in 2011 to $1.3 trillion, a congressional official said today. The new budget, out tomorrow, says deficits over the next decade will average 4....

'Shameless' Karl Rove Wrong on Budget
 'Shameless' 
 Karl Rove 
 Wrong on Budget 
DAVID AXELROD
Jan 15, 2010 11:07 AM CST

'Shameless' Karl Rove Wrong on Budget

White House honcho blasts defense of Bush

(Newser) - David Axelrod is amazed by the “sheer audacity and shamelessness” of Karl Rove’s claims about rampant spending under the Obama administration. The former Bush aide predicted last week that congressional Democrats “will run up more debt by October than Bush did in 8 years.” That would...

Obama Budget Likely to Include Bank Fees

Aims to recoup bailout losses, avoid passing along to customers

(Newser) - The Obama administration will likely include a provision in next month’s budget that imposes fees on banks in an effort to make back some of the taxpayer money lost on the bailout and close the record deficit. Politico has it that a transaction tax is not on the table;...

Congress Ups Nat'l Debt Ceiling to $12.4T

Bill would authorize Treasury to fund gov through Feb.

(Newser) - The Senate voted today to raise the ceiling on the government debt to $12.4 trillion, a massive increase over the current limit and a political problem that President Barack Obama has promised to address next year. The Senate's rare Christmas Eve vote, 60-39, follows House passage last week and...

Next Hurdle for Afghan Surge: Paying for It

Dems don't want to pony up for Obama's plan

(Newser) - Getting Congress to fund Barack Obama’s new Afghanistan strategy might be as arduous a process as the strategic review that devised it. Democrats, cold to the idea of sending more troops, don’t want to foot the bill; some are proposing a war tax to cover it. “If...

Dem Lawmakers Cry Foul on Obama Budget Cuts

President's targets for cuts have eager defenders in Congress

(Newser) - To make an omelet, you’ve got to break some eggs. But some of the eggs President Obama broke in the list of budget cuts unveiled yesterday were golden eggs for lawmakers, and even members of his own party wasted no time in protesting, the Washington Post reports. Dems who...

Line by Line: Some Obama Budget Cuts
 Line by Line: Some 
 Obama Budget Cuts 
ANALYSIS
May 7, 2009 2:30 PM CDT

Line by Line: Some Obama Budget Cuts

(Newser) - President Obama said today proposed budget cuts are “not a criticism of” federal workers. Still, they take a toll, from defense to education. The Washington Post takes a look at what’s being trimmed:
  • Anthrax vaccine research: The administration says the goals of the program have been met, and
...

Obama to Cabinet: Cut $100M From Budgets

Move comes amid pressure to slice deficit

(Newser) - Facing pressure over spending, President Obama will unite his Cabinet today for the first time and ask members to find $100 million worth of potential budget cuts over the next 90 days, the Washington Post reports. Though it’s a tiny sum compared to a $3.5 trillion budget outline,...

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