federal budget

Mar 11, 2009 11:07 AM CDT

Moderate Dems Balk Over Obama Deficit

Right wing of the president's party will fight to shave budget

(Newser) - Barack Obama may be president, but it’s Congress that passes the budget, and moderate Democrats are the ones holding the keys to the federal treasury, reports Time. Obama’s 2010 budget calls for $3.6 trillion in federal spending. And though deficit-hawks appreciate the president’s honest numbers (in...

Top Dem Dogs Ready to Retool Obama's Budget

ANALYSIS

Mar 10, 2009 10:00 AM CDT

Combative Obama Braces for Fight on Budget

Prez backs $3.6 trillion budget in latest video

(Newser) - In his weekly radio address today, President Obama struck a more combative tone than usual in a push for his $3.6 trillion budget, reports Politico. “I know these steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing...

Budget Includes
Fishing Lessons,
Moon Shot

Feb 26, 2009 7:00 PM CST

Budget Includes Fishing Lessons, Moon Shot

(Newser) - A $3.6 trillion budget is bound to have nooks and crannies. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at some of the lesser publicized aspects of President Obama's plan:

Interior Department gets $50 million to teach young people how to hunt and fish and generally love the environment.
NASA

...

Obama Budget Relies on Rosy Growth Estimates

Feb 26, 2009 5:38 PM CST

Obama Budget Relies on Rosy Growth Estimates

(Newser) - President Obama is more optimistic about the nation's economic prospects than most economists, Bloomberg reports. His budget plan forecasts a GDP contraction of 1.2% this year, followed by a 3.2% expansion in 2010. The median forecast of economists calls for a contraction of 2% this year and growth...

Dems Shrug Off Obama's Call to Battle Earmarks

analysis

Feb 26, 2009 10:40 AM CST

Dems Shrug Off Obama's Call to Battle Earmarks

'Faceless bureaucrats' shouldn't guide funds: Reid

(Newser) - Leading Democratic lawmakers didn't welcome President Obama’s call to jettison budget earmarks, suggesting that as elected officials, they should control where funds are headed, the Hill reports. “We cannot let spending be done by a bunch of nameless, faceless bureaucrats,” Harry Reid said yesterday. Obama pointed to...

Obama Trying to Shift
Burden to the Rich

analysis

Feb 25, 2009 7:46 PM CST

Obama Trying to Shift Burden to the Rich

(Newser) - As details trickle out about President Obama's budget, one clear picture is emerging—he is dead-set on making the rich pay more, write Jackie Calmes and Robert Pear in the New York Times. In the latest example, he plans to fund half of his health-care reform through tax increases on...

Obama Blasts
'Casual Dishonesty'
of Bush Budgets

Feb 23, 2009 3:58 PM CST

Obama Blasts 'Casual Dishonesty' of Bush Budgets

(Newser) - At a White House “fiscal responsibility summit” today, President Obama opened fire on what he called the Bush administration’s “casual dishonesty” about the federal budget, Politico reports. “Contrary to the prevailing wisdom in Washington these past few years,” Obama said, “we cannot simply spend...

Obama Plans
to Slash Deficit by 2013

Feb 21, 2009 10:33 PM CST

Obama Plans to Slash Deficit by 2013

Goal hinges on Iraqi withdrawal, letting Bush's tax cuts lapse

(Newser) - Having proved he can get the government to pony up $787 billion to stimulate the economy, President Obama will now attempt to highlight his frugal side. Obama will unveil a budget Thursday that aims to cut the deficit—which could climb to $1.9 trillion in 2009—to $533 million...

Soaring National Debt Takes Backseat to Bailout

Oct 20, 2008 8:45 AM CDT

Soaring National Debt Takes Backseat to Bailout

Congressional Budget Office says deficit could reach $700 billion this year

(Newser) - There's a strange silence in Washington these days about the federal deficit, the New York Times reports, as the immediate economic crisis trumps worries about adding hundreds of billions in debt. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are unusually sanguine about paying for the bank bailouts and another proposed...

Rising Iraq Costs Refuel Debate

Feb 4, 2008 2:59 PM CST