budget deficit

Stories 181 - 200 | << Prev   Next >>

For Sale: Sherwood Forest, and Other Iconic Properties

European governments struggling to pay the bills, but locals unhappy

(Newser) - Want to live in legendary Sherwood Forest, where Robin Hood faced off with the sheriff of Nottingham? Soon you might be able to—the British government wants to sell off large chunks of the woods, in order to balance the budget. Locals are furious at the thought that developers or...

Obama to Call for 5-Year Spending Freeze

 Obama to Call 
 for 5-Year 
 Spending 
 Freeze 
state of the union
Jan 25, 2011 1:38 PM CST

Obama to Call for 5-Year Spending Freeze

Measure would only hit non-defense discretionary items

(Newser) - Barack Obama will call for a five-year freeze on non-defense discretionary spending in his State of the Union address tonight, calling it “a down payment toward reducing the deficit,” a White House official tells the Wall Street Journal . The official said Obama would also look for “cuts...

Obama Won't Back Social Security Cuts


 Obama Won't 
 Back Social 
 Security Cuts 
SOTU PREVIEW
Jan 25, 2011 7:49 AM CST

Obama Won't Back Social Security Cuts

...Or any other specific deficit-cutting measures in State of the Union address

(Newser) - President Obama will talk about the importance of cutting the deficit in his State of the Union address tonight, but he’s unlikely to endorse any specific steps for doing so, administration sources tell the Washington Post . In particular, Obama has explicitly assured Democratic lawmakers and advocates for the elderly...

Obama to Push Spending on Energy, Roads, Schools
Obama to Push Spending on Energy, Roads, Schools
state of the union
Jan 22, 2011 11:54 AM CST

Obama to Push Spending on Energy, Roads, Schools

Republicans will no doubt be thrilled

(Newser) - This will give GOP deficit hawk Paul Ryan plenty to talk about in his official response to President Obama's State of the Union address: The president will call for new spending in areas he says are critical to job growth and competitiveness, namely renewable energy, rebuilding roads, and revamping education,...

Paul Ryan Will Give GOP's State of the Union Response

Young budget wonk is a rising star of the party

(Newser) - GOP up-and-comer Paul Ryan will deliver the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address next week , reports the Washington Post . Ryan is chair of the House Budget Committee, and he'll speak from the panel's hearing room to underscore a message of fiscal discipline, say party leaders....

Poll: Majority Want Action on Deficit Now

Public wants spending cuts ... just not to Medicare or Social Security

(Newser) - Some 56% of Americans want the massive federal budget deficit dealt with now instead of when the economy improves, according to a New York Times / CBS poll, and 62% say they would prefer the deficit be addressed through spending cuts, rather than higher taxes. That preference, however, changed when...

GOP's Health Reform 'Analysis' Is Assault on Logic
GOP's Health Reform
'Analysis' Is Assault on Logic
paul krugman
Jan 17, 2011 4:16 PM CST

GOP's Health Reform 'Analysis' Is Assault on Logic

They don't really believe it will kill jobs, writes Paul Krugman

(Newser) - In their effort to repeal health care reform, the GOP has produced “some numbers and charts to wave at the press”—but they’re not part of any “rational discussion,” writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Their figures are, in fact, part of the...

Texas's Busted Budget Shows Failure of GOP Theory
Texas's Busted Budget
Shows Failure of GOP Theory
paul krugman
Jan 7, 2011 12:04 PM CST

Texas's Busted Budget Shows Failure of GOP Theory

Paul Krugman: State faces huge hole over taxes-are-evil mantra

(Newser) - To all appearances, things were going great in Texas until recently. Gov. Rick Perry even boasted of a surplus in the billions in his re-election run. For conservatives, it was a shining example of good fiscal practice: never raise taxes; use only spending cuts to balance the budget. Now, though,...

ObamaCare Repeal Would Tack $230B Onto Deficit: CBO

Boehner slams claim over 'double-counting'

(Newser) - Republicans have hit a potential roadblock in their quest to dump health care reform: the price. Repeal would add $230 billion to the deficit by 2021, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Reform itself, the CBO has said, would reduce the deficit by $143 billion over...

Beware Republicans' New Voodoo Economics
Beware Republicans'
New Voodoo Economics
paul krugman
Dec 31, 2010 11:14 AM CST

Beware Republicans' New Voodoo Economics

Paul Krugman: How do big tax cuts square with concern over the deficit?

(Newser) - Paul Krugman warns against what he sees as a new version of "voodoo economics" that Republicans plan to codify in the House: "The belief that deficits created by tax cuts just don't matter." Jon Kyl and crew think that any tax cut is a good tax cut,...

Want to Rein in Deficit? Cut Military Funding
Want to Rein in Deficit?
Cut Military Funding
NICholas KRISTOF
Dec 26, 2010 8:37 AM CST

Want to Rein in Deficit? Cut Military Funding

With budget problems soaring, it is time to reduce military spending

(Newser) - US military spending has been sacrosanct by both political parties, but with budget pressures mounting, "it's time to bust that taboo," writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times . Kristof notes that the US military budget is nearly as large as the rest of the world combined, and...

Obama Signals Compromise on Bush Tax Cuts

President looks ready to extend all in order to spare middle class

(Newser) - Faced with the prospect of no deal on the Bush tax cuts resulting in a middle-class tax hike on Jan. 1, President Obama is signaling a willingness to extend them across the board, reports USA Today. "We've got to find consensus here even if it's not 100% of what...

Next Financial Crisis: Collapse of States, Cities

Mounting debt, accounting tricks could set up bust among municipalities

(Newser) - Several US states and cities are sitting on fiscal time bombs that could send the country careening into a domestic version of the EU debt crisis, financial experts warn. Pushed to the brink by the downturn, state and local governments are riding trillions of dollars’ worth of debt—much of...

Tax Cut Showdown: Dems' Two Options

Must win centrists as Bush cuts expire

(Newser) - When it comes to tax cuts, the Democrats’ options are few. Politically speaking, it’s too late to force the expiration of Bush cuts on those earning more than $250,000. But Dems have two notable choices, writes David Leonhardt in the New York Times : one, to let the Bush...

Obama to Freeze Feds' Pay
 Obama to Freeze 
 Feds' Pay 
Nov 29, 2010 10:38 AM CST

Obama to Freeze Feds' Pay

Aims to cut deficit with 2-year move

(Newser) - President Obama is set to announce a 2-year pay freeze for federal employees that the White House says is necessary to put the country on sound fiscal footing. The White House said today that the freeze would apply to all civilian federal employees, including those working at the Department of...

Republicans Can't Wait for Debt 'Blood Bath'
Republicans Can't Wait for Debt 'Blood Bath'
Paul Krugman
Nov 22, 2010 9:52 AM CST

Republicans Can't Wait for Debt 'Blood Bath'

One of our parties just doesn't care about 'making American governable'

(Newser) - Alan Simpson must be a serious moderate Republican—after all, President Obama appointed him to co-chair his debt commission. Well here’s what this moderate said Friday: “I can’t wait for the blood bath in April. … We’ve got guys who will not approve the debt limit...

Let's Finally Shrink the 'Military Industrial Complex'
Let's Finally Shrink the
'Military Industrial Complex'
eugene robinson
Nov 16, 2010 12:45 PM CST

Let's Finally Shrink the 'Military Industrial Complex'

Eugene Robinson: Budget realities make it essential

(Newser) - Of all the controversial ideas in the Bowles-Simpson deficit-reduction plan, the "most welcome" is the one about slashing defense spending and at long last taming the infamous military industrial complex, writes Eugene Robinson. He lays the blame for out-of-control spending on Republicans, who talk a good game on small...

Deficit Commission Hijacked By the Right
Deficit Commission Hijacked By the Right
Paul Krugman
Nov 12, 2010 12:58 PM CST

Deficit Commission Hijacked By the Right

Krugman: It's yet another soak-the-poor scheme

(Newser) - Paul Krugman had a bad feeling about the president’s deficit commission when co-chair Alan Simpson likened Social Security to “a milk cow with 310 million tits.” The suggestions put forward Wednesday haven’t improved his opinion. Simpson, and Democrat Erskine Bowles, proposed a truly “bipartisan” plan—...

Deficit Fights Loom for Lame Duck Congress

Spending bill, Bush tax cut decision will have to be made quickly

(Newser) - The federal deficit has played a huge role in the midterm elections, but it might become an even bigger issue right after them, when a lame duck Congress is forced to make immediate decisions about the expiring Bush tax cuts, and pass an overdue spending bill to keep the government...

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’...

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