Budget Battles
-
Deficit Owls Say You Shouldn’t Give a Hoot About $1 Trillion Budget Shortfall
-
How Congress Cheats with Our Money — and How We Can Stop It
-
April Is Financial Literacy Month. Someone Tell Congress.
-
When the Budget Won’t Balance, Just Get Rid of the Budget Committee?
-
With Recent Laws, Congress Has Added $540 Billion to the 2019 Deficit
-
Why Trillion-Dollar Deficits Matter
-
Paul Ryan's Fiscal Legacy: Lots of Red Ink
-
Why $21 Trillion in Debt Doesn't Bother the Credit Agencies
By The Fiscal Times StaffThe U.S national debt has surpassed $21 trillion, up 2.8 percent since the start of the year, but two of the leading credit agencies aren’t worried about the country’s ability to keep up with its...
-
How the US Government Saved $178 Billion Since 2011 — and Could Save Billions More
Congress could save tens of billions of dollars by acting on recommendations to improve efficiency and reduce duplication, overlap and fragmentation within government programs, the Government...
-
A Plan to Save $25 Billion at the Pentagon
By Michael RaineyHouse Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) released a plan last week to cut $25 billion in spending at the Pentagon, largely through reductions in what the lawmaker says are...
-
Why the Deficit Outlook Could Be Even Worse Than It Seems
By The Fiscal Times StaffThe Congressional Budget Office warned earlier this month that the U.S. will start running $1 trillion deficits in 2020, and that the national debt will be nearly as large as the economy in a decade...
-
Why Republicans Won’t Even Try to Pass a Budget for 2019
By The Fiscal Times StaffBudget expert Stan Collender at Forbes slams Republicans for not even attempting to pass a budget for the fiscal year that starts October 1. “The House and Senate Budget Committees only have one job...
-
Deficit Owls Say You Shouldn’t Give a Hoot About $1 Trillion Budget Shortfall
As warnings rise about the Congressional Budget Office’s projection that the federal budget deficit is on pace to top $1 trillion in 2020, The Washington Post’s Jeff Stein on Friday highlighted a...
-
How Congress Cheats with Our Money — and How We Can Stop It
By Marc Goldwein and Zach MollerThe U.S. is on course to top its record debt levels set after World War II, and permanent trillion-dollar deficits — meaning, forever — are likely to return within two years . And unlike after World...
-
Will Work for Food? Republicans Push Stricter Rules for SNAP
By Michael RaineyFunding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more commonly known as food stamps, is provided in the farm bill, a massive spending and regulatory package Congress passes every...
-
April Is Financial Literacy Month. Someone Tell Congress.
By Joseph J. Minarik and Caroline L. FergusonFebruary is Black History Month, March is National Women’s Month, and April? Well, it’s Financial Literacy Month, of course! The U.S. government gave financial literacy its own month in 2003. April...
-
Why All the Warnings About Unsustainable National Debt Could Be Wrong
By Michael RaineyInternational economists are warning about rising global debt levels and deficit hawks in Washington are increasingly worried about what they see as unsustainable debt levels in the U.S., but a new...
-
The US Has an Exceptional Debt Outlook – and Not in a Good Way
By Michael RaineyThe International Money Fund’s latest global fiscal survey warns that in five years, the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio will be higher than Italy’s, a nation not generally known for its exemplary fiscal...
-
Why More School Districts Are Holding Class Just Four Days a Week
By Sophie Quinton, StatelineThe public school in Campo, Colorado, hasn’t required all its students to come to class on Fridays for nearly two decades. The 44-student district dropped a weekday to boost attendance and better...
-
When the Budget Won’t Balance, Just Get Rid of the Budget Committee?
By Michael RaineyIt may sound like a joke — Erik Sherman of Forbes said it seemed like something “from The Onion or Andy Borowitz at the New Yorker, only with less humor and pith” — but Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), chair...
-
With Recent Laws, Congress Has Added $540 Billion to the 2019 Deficit
Spending hikes and tax cuts passed since 2015 under the Trump and Obama administrations account for $540 billion of next year’s projected $981 billion budget deficit, or 55 percent, according to...
-
F-35 Deliveries Halted Over Repair Bill
By Michael RaineyThe F-35 Lightning II has yet to fire a shot in anger but the Pentagon is already arguing with manufacturer Lockheed Martin over a big repair bill. The Defense Department has stopped accepting most...