Topic: Government Spending

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Five ways to improve Obama's pre-k plan

President Obama’s Preschool for All plan is well intentioned but includes features that are not justified by research and won’t help it pass in Congress. The plan must make the following five adjustments.
Top 5 bull markets since 1929

The bull market that started in 2009 is currently the fifth most spectacular rise in stock prices since at least 1929. Can you guess which bull markets have been even more impressive?
Where do things stand at Guantánamo? Six basic questions answered.

President Obama this week pledged to “reengage” with Congress to find a way to close the terror detention camp at the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, naval base. The renewed focus comes as 100 of the 166 detainees are reported to be engaged in a hunger strike. Here is a brief look at where things stand now.
World's five largest companies

For the first time in nearly a decade, the world’s five largest public companies are all American affair These are the Top 5, as of mid-April 2013.
5 steps to bipartisan cuts in Medicare – and the deficit

Medicare is the single greatest contributor to long-term deficits. If Democrats and Republicans cooperate on waste-cutting ideas – many of which are backed by President Obama – both parties stand to gain. Here are five ways Congress should act.

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The Monitor's View: The debt commission: Bowles and Simpson point to the political solution

At a Monitor breakfast with reporters, the chairmen of the presidential debt commission say that lawmakers will finally cut the deficit either because of a crisis or because they're listening to one another. Let's hope it is the latter.
New Afghan war plans could cost US taxpayers an extra $125 billion

At the NATO summit, President Obama's push to soften troop withdrawal deadlines could bring remaining war costs to $413 billion, according to one independent analyst.
'Brutal' vote ahead on whether to raise the national debt ceiling

Many new Republicans were elected on a platform of shrinking the federal government. The first big test of their sincerity it coming, with a vote on whether to let the US borrow more money to increase the national debt. Deficit commission co-chair Alan Simpson says he 'can't wait.'
Poison vote looms for tea party freshmen: Raise the national debt limit?

Congress is months from a vote on whether to raise the national debt limit. But House Republicans are already bracing for what could be the toughest vote tea party freshmen face.
Senate ban on budget earmarks: Can it really work?

Pressure on senators to direct money to their states can be tremendous, whether it's done by budget earmarks or some other way. Appropriations bills are only one avenue to deliver the goods.
Earmarks will be hard for Senate Democrats to maintain, considering GOP opposition

Earmarks have been abandoned by most congressional Republicans, pushed by results from the midterm elections. Senate Democrats will have a difficult time supporting earmarks, both now in the lame duck session and next year.
Want to cut the deficit? Clean up the tax code.

The Office of Management and Budget has found 170 tax code credits and other loopholes – including special rules for NASCAR venues – that cut federal revenue dramatically.
Earmark ban: Common sense budget reform or 'tremendous step backwards'?

Senate Republicans decide to swear off earmarks. Now, they will try to persuade the Democrats to do the same. But many Democrats – and some Republicans, too – are wary.
Earmark ban: Why GOP freshmen might just be getting started

The size of the GOP freshman class in both the House and Senate means that Republican leadership will have to take it seriously. The earmark ban in the Senate, adopted by Republicans Tuesday, represents an early victory.
Senate's 16 new members arrive on Capitol Hill: Who are they?

Starting this Monday, the Senate welcomes 16 fresh faces to the Capitol’s marbled halls. While they won’t be sworn into office until January, these newly-elected members – three Democrats and 13 Republicans – come to Washington to tour the buildings, learn rules of decorum, and meet with their future coworkers. The new Senators come largely from open seats where both parties had a new candidate on the ticket and include a handful of tea partyers.
Now that Mitch McConnell is aboard, how much would earmark ban save?

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has agreed to back a ban on earmarks. 'Pork barrel' projects in appropriations bills account for between 1 and 2 percent of total federal spending.
How tea party senators stared down Mitch McConnell on earmark ban

Pressure from tea party-backed Republican freshmen senators led Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell to reverse course: He said Monday he would back an earmark ban.
Dagong: America's credit rating takes a hit for QE2

Beijing-based Dagong Global Credit Rating Co. has downgraded US debt from double-A to A+ with a negative outlook.
Think you can fix the budget? Go ahead.

The New York Times offers a new tool for readers: see if you can reduce (let alone eliminate) the budget deficit.
Politicians, don't 'Just Say No' to the Bowles-Simpson recommendations

Politicians from the left and right have responded with knee-jerk objections to the report from the co-chairs of President Obama's deficit commission. It's time for the adult conversation to begin.
Beware budget-deficit mania: Commission report may generate more heat than light

Should Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson have more directly tackled health care or the possibility that growth may address debt more effectively than frugality?
Retirement age at 69? Deficit plan hits Social Security.

Retirement age would rise to 69 by 2075 as one of the reforms proposed in a draft plan from President Obama's deficit commission.
To reduce national debt, 'shared sacrifice' necessary, deficit chairs say

The chairmen of Obama's debt commission have outlined a plan designed to show that progress is possible in reducing the national debt – if Americans agree to make tough compromises.
Social Security, Medicare, Pentagon slashed by deficit commission

Under the proposal, Medicare spending, Social Security, the Pentagon's budget, and earmarks would be curtailed in a plan that cuts $3 in spending for every $1 in tax increases.
A bipartisan and reality-based way to cut tax rates AND reduce the deficit. Really.

The secret to cutting rates and increasing revenues? President Reagan knew it, as do President Obama's fiscal commission co-chairs, Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan Simpson.
Who will be upset by panel's proposal on national debt? Nearly everyone.

The co-chairs of Obama's deficit-reduction panel issued a proposal to reduce the national debt by $4 trillion in 10 years. But the budget cuts and tax increases promise to anger just about everyone.
Silver prices up and strong: Want to buy your next house with silver?

Silver prices are climbing fast and gold is soaring above $1400 an ounce. Is it time to stock up on bullion?
Support for tea party? Its goals, yes. The movement, not as much.

A new Monitor/TIPP poll finds strong support for some core tea party objectives, such as 'cutting the deficit by cutting spending.' But a majority viewed the tea party itself negatively.
Does the GOP really want to slash spending in a weak economy?

Yes, the GOP wants to shrink the government. Yes, some voters agree. But is this the time?
States' bailout: Largest 15 states spend over 220 percent of tax revenue

The federal government is quietly bailing out states whose tax revenues don't match state expenditures. Funding for this will run out in June 2011. What then?