budget deficit

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White House Eyes TARP Cash to Slash Deficit

Administration debating options for leftover $200B

(Newser) - The White House is debating using some of what remains in the $700 billion bailout fund to help cut the nation's deficit. Around $210 billion remains unspent and financial institutions are expected to repay another $50 billion over the next 18 months. The administration wants to keep some of that...

9 Other States Have Calif.-Sized Fiscal Messes

Ariz., Fla., Ill., Mich., and NJ among others facing crises

(Newser) - California has by no means cornered the market on enormous financial problems at the state level, with a report out today saying Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin are also at tremendous risk. The Pew Center sees widespread unemployment, huge budget deficits, and the...

Record $1.4T Deficit Imperils Recovery

Gap dwarfs FY2008 figure, spells trouble for new stimulus plans

(Newser) - The federal deficit in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 was $1.4 trillion, lower than projected but still a record. At 10% of GDP, the figure is the largest since 1945, when the deficit was 21.5% of GDP. The figure made public today coincides with early rumblings...

Enough Already! Stop Trying to Grow Government
Enough Already! Stop Trying to Grow Government
noonan to obama:
Oct 16, 2009 3:45 AM CDT

Enough Already! Stop Trying to Grow Government

We're already too crowded with social problems; no room left

(Newser) - The Obama administration hasn't just misjudged the national mood by trying to push through health care reform in the middle of a recession, it's misjudged the whole era we're living in, writes Peggy Noonan. This isn't the '30s, when income tax was new and the federal government was still lean,...

Social Security Faces Grim Forecast for 2010, 2011

Payouts will exceed tax receipts for first time since 1980s

(Newser) - Big job losses and a spike in early retirement claims from laid-off seniors will force Social Security to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes the next 2 years, the first time that's happened since the 1980s. The deficits—$10 billion in 2010 and $9 billion in...

Obvious Guy to Fix Calif.: Guy Who Broke It?
Obvious Guy to Fix Calif.: Guy Who Broke It?
ANALYSIS
Sep 26, 2009 5:16 AM CDT

Obvious Guy to Fix Calif.: Guy Who Broke It?

Despite one ruinous turn as governor, Jerry Brown is front-runner

(Newser) - California is a financial mess, hamstrung by some late-1970s leftovers: some ill-considered “low-impact liberalism” and a ballot measure that makes raising taxes nearly impossible. Both came during the governorship of Democrat Jerry Brown, he of the motto “Maybe by avoiding doing things you accomplish quite a lot”—...

Obama's Health Speech a Victory for the Center: Brooks

Highly effective talk knocks down House plan, public option

(Newser) - President Obama’s health care speech was “the finest speech of his presidency,” writes David Brooks: While rhetorically appeasing liberals, it “subtly staked out ground in the center” to win over moderates, making passage “much more likely,” he opines in the New York Times. Obama...

Don't Fear Debt &mdash;Failed Reform Is Scarier
Don't Fear Debt —Failed Reform Is Scarier
OPINION
Aug 28, 2009 6:19 AM CDT

Don't Fear Debt —Failed Reform Is Scarier

Krugman: We need deficits in a recession; they 'saved the world'

(Newser) - Paul Krugman isn't surprised that the projected $9 trillion deficit over the next decade is being greeted as a sign of economic apocalypse—and that commentators think it proves health care reform should be scuppered. In fact, he writes in the New York Times, it's good to run a deficit...

US Deficit Soaring to $1.6T This Year

(Newser) - Here's the latest eye-popping number produced by the recession: $1.6 trillion. The White House and CBO today projected that figure as this year's deficit, reports the New York Times. While it would be the biggest since World War II, the figure is actually about $260  billion better than anticipated...

Buffett: Cut Our 'Greenback Emissions'

With recovery in sight, Congress should curb deficit spending

(Newser) - Just as carbon emissions could have a dire effect on the environment, Warren Buffett thinks “greenback emissions” could wreak havoc on the economy, he writes in the New York Times. The government has spent staggering sums to avoid economic disaster, and that was wise. Now, the economy is “...

Bush Bashing Won't Stop Anytime Soon

(Newser) - Barack Obama doesn’t want anyone to forget his predecessor. “You hand me a $1.3 trillion bill, and then you’re complaining six months later because we haven’t paid it all back,” he griped at a recent town hall. And you can expect him to keep...

In US, Gym-Class Injuries Up 150% in Past Decade

Large class sizes, fewer school nurses may be to blame

(Newser) - American kids are suffering 150% more injuries in gym class than a decade ago, the AP reports. Over that period, a study found, there has been a renewed emphasis on physical-education class as a way to inculcate students with healthy habits and prevent obesity. But the increase in injuries may...

DC Deficit Fixer: Print on Both Sides of Paper

$102M in painfully obvious cuts shows how outdated gov't is

(Newser) - A short while ago, President Obama called on his Cabinet to make budget cuts in their departments totaling $100 million. They came up with $102 million, but some of the cuts were so obvious one wonders why it took a presidential edict to elicit them, the Wall Street Journal notes....

Recession Sparks Efforts to Legalize Pot

Full-scale regulation and taxation on the table in Calif.

(Newser) - The recession has given marijuana-legalization advocates an unexpected boost, Time reports, as cash-strapped states are tempted by possible revenues from pot taxes. With an existing medical-marijuana market and cuts to education and health services pending due to a huge budget deficit, California advocates are preparing both legislation and ballot initiatives...

Calif. Assembly OKs Budget Plan; Schwarzenegger Next

(Newser) - California's state assembly today approved a plan to close most of its $26 billion budget deficit, sending the package of financial fixes to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who's expected to sign it by Monday. The Assembly rejected two of the most controversial measures, a plan to take about $1 billion in...

Calif. Finally Forges Budget Deal
Calif. Finally Forges
Budget Deal
Jul 21, 2009 1:48 AM CDT

Calif. Finally Forges Budget Deal

Plan calls for massive cuts to close $26B budget hole

(Newser) - After weeks of wrangling, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a deal with state lawmakers to close the $26 billion hole in California's budget, the Sacramento Bee reports. Leaders believe the plan—which involves massive spending cuts and borrowing from city governments—is solid enough to secure billions of dollars in...

Poll: Obama Sinks Below 50% on Health Care

Numbers drop on health care, economy, deficit

(Newser) - President Obama’s approval rating on health care has dropped from 57% in April to below half for the first time, as resistance heats up, even among Democrats, to the reform bill working its way through Congress, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds. Some 49% approve and 44% (up from...

Calif. Budget Crisis Cripples UC System

(Newser) - California's budget crisis has taken an $813 million toll on its famed UC system, Time reports. The University of California's 10 campuses are attempting to deal with the 20% budget cut by instituting mandatory furloughs for 80% of staff, drastically cutting or even freezing new hires, and increasing tuition by...

Deal Near on Calif. Budget Gap
 Deal Near on Calif. Budget Gap 
Jul 15, 2009 12:27 PM CDT

Deal Near on Calif. Budget Gap

(Newser) - The California Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are just steps away from an agreement that would close the state’s $26.3 billion deficit, the Los Angeles Times reports. Talks are expected to conclude today. “I don’t think there is anything that would make negotiations shut down at...

Deficit Tops $1T for First Time
 Deficit Tops $1T for First Time 
Jul 13, 2009 2:25 PM CDT

Deficit Tops $1T for First Time

(Newser) - Nine months into the fiscal year, the federal deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time. The imbalance is intensifying fears about higher interest rates and inflation; there's also concern about trying to reverse the deficit—by reducing government spending or raising taxes—in the midst of a harsh...

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