President Obama’s call for the United States to assist the Middle East and North Africa’s transition from authoritarianism to democracy reflects a longstanding U.S. foreign policy goal. His reluctance to spend much to achieve it was something different, however. It shows how U.S. fiscal troubles will continue to limit Washington’s ability to achieve its goals …
Continue reading “Democracy Abroad: Costly and Further Out of Reach”
The debate over raising the federal debt limit – which the government reached today, according to Secretary Timothy Geithner – has morphed into a question of “compared to what.” In the Wall Street Journal’s “Weekend Interview,” Wall Street legend Stanley Druckenmiller argued that what he called a “technical default” – a delay of several days …
Continue reading “Can We Afford a ‘Technical Default’ on the Debt?”
Question: Why is House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, making so little sense these days on fiscal policy? Answer: He’s leading a House Republican caucus that is badly split on such matters, and he’s trying to satisfy everyone at the same time. Consider the events of recent weeks, culminating in the confusion of the past few …
Continue reading “A Confused Boehner Pin Balls on Fiscal Policy”
States face a combined $112 billion in projected budget shortfalls for their coming fiscal year (2012), according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, showing that states continue to suffer from the shrunken revenues caused by the recent recession. So you might wonder why, as Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its current edition, states continue …
Continue reading “Business Tax Breaks: State Budget Busters”
Florida has joined a handful of states whose leaders think that, at a time of high unemployment and widespread hardship, a good way to save money is to cut benefits for unemployed workers. The New York Times reported yesterday that Florida’s legislature voted Friday night to gradually cut the number of weeks for basic unemployment …
Continue reading “Unemployment Cuts a Cruel Way to Save Money”
That loud hissing sound that you now hear is the air that’s leaving the balloon of serious deficit cutting. During the congressional recess of last week and the one before, many House Republicans faced angry senior citizens at town hall meetings after voting for House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan that would turn …
Continue reading “GOP’s Tactical Retreat From Medicare Cuts”
Facing a choice between doing something hard and something easy, lawmakers invariably choose the latter, which explains why the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing Wednesday morning on how to change the budget process in hopes of reducing deficits and debt. On deficit cutting, the hard stuff is evaluating particular tax and spending provisions, making …
Continue reading “Irresponsible Budgeting: Here We Go Again”