Deficit on Huffington Post

Blake Fleetwood: 'Stupid' Spending on the Military and Health Care Is Leading to National Suicide

2013-06-18T15:36:36Z

These are the elephants in the American economy. All other spending is minor compared to spending on healthcare and the military. If we can get greater efficiencies in these two areas, all the other problems become much more manageable.

Read more: Deficit, Obama, Military Spending, Pork Barrel, Health Care, Budget, Golden Fleece, Proxmire, Politics News

Dean Baker: Celebrate the Defeat of the Granny Bashers!

2013-06-17T19:57:29Z

In this case the strong support of the public for these programs -- which cuts across party and demographic lines -- overcame the power of corporate money and the political elite. When push came to shove, not enough politicians were prepared to go against the strongly held views of their constituents.

Read more: Taxes, Deficit, Debt, Medicare, Social Security, Federal Budget Deficit, Business News

Jared Bernstein: Is This a Realistic Time for a 'Grand Bargain?'

2013-06-17T12:10:23Z

As the fiscal picture has improved, both through actions we've taken already and the improving economy, it's much tougher to make the hair-on-fire urgency case that drove this benighted debate in recent years.

Read more: Grand Bargain, Debt Grand Bargain, Deficit Grand Bargain, Spending Cuts, Debt Negotiations, Tax Revenues, Deficit Reduction, Paul Krugman, Politics News

Jeff Flake: Fellow Lawmakers Relieved By Sequestration

2013-06-12T15:39:38Z

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said on Wednesday that some of his fellow lawmakers are glad sequestration allowed for spending cuts and that government age...

Read more: HuffPolitics Blog, Deficit, Sequestration Cuts, Jeff Flake Sequestration, Senate Sequestration, Spending Cuts, Senate Sequester, Sequester, Jeff Flake Sequester, Sequestration, Politics News

Dave Johnson: Austerity Is Dead -- So Can We Fix the Infrastructure NOW?

2013-06-12T11:22:42Z

You might have heard that "austerity is dead." Meanwhile we have two real problems to worry about: unemployment and crumbling infrastructure.

Read more: Deficit, Infrastructure, Jobs, Obstruction, Stimulus, Recession, Austerity, Fdr, Video, Business News

Jared Bernstein: Just Who's Delusional Around Here?

2013-06-10T11:28:56Z

If the Washington Post wants to restore some credibility on this issue, they need to get real about the economic vulnerability of most retirees and start emphasize raising the "tax-max" -- the salary cutoff for payroll taxes -- as part of the fix here.

Read more: Washington Post, U.S. Economy, Economy, Deficit, Spending Cuts, DC News

Jared Bernstein: The Facts of the Case and Why We're Not Following Them

2013-06-06T12:58:38Z

Those obsessing about deficits never cared so much about deficits. They use deficits and debt to further their shrink-the-government agenda. In that context, the fact that the deficit numbers no longer support their four-alarm-fire messaging strategy is but a minor inconvenience.

Read more: Debt, National Debt, Economics, Inflation, Deficits, Government Spending, Deficit Reduction, Deficit Hawks, Deficit Forecasts, Austerity, Business News

Howard Steven Friedman: The Balancing Act of Taxes and Spending

2013-06-03T10:07:21Z

While there is plenty of fat and waste in government, it's important to emphasize that government operations cannot always be assessed on a simple profit and loss basis; there are many critical cases where the government steps in precisely because the free market can't or won't.

Read more: Federal Funding, Debt, Medicaid, Gdp, Free Market, Federal Budget Deficit, Revenue, Oecd, Politics News

Seriously Skewed: The Top 8 Things We Learned From the Sequester

2013-05-31T15:15:04Z

The only thing that scares politicians more than losing votes because of the sequester is actually doing some work to avoid losing those votes.

Read more: White House, Irs, Federal Budget Deficit, Marijuana, Budget Cuts, Faa, Republican Obstructionism, John Boehner, Gop, Sequester, Democrats, Barack Obama, Republicans, Comedy News

More Evidence Obamacare Could Improve Budget Woes

2013-05-31T12:34:34Z

* Improved outlook could make Congress complacent * Social Security budget outlook largely unchanged * Disability insura...

Read more: Obamacare, Health Care Costs, Reuters, Affordable Care Act, Budget Deficit, Medicare, Government Budget, Business News

Social Security And Medicare Face Major Hurdle

2013-05-30T16:37:05Z

WASHINGTON — As the U.S. recovery slowly gathers steam, federal deficits are finally coming down from their nosebleed $1-trillion-plus heights. ...

Read more: Medicare Cuts, White House Social Security, Deficit, Congress, White House Medicare, Social Security, Social Security Cuts, Social Security Medicare, Medicare, Politics News

Howard Steven Friedman: A Modest Proposal: Introduction

2013-05-30T15:36:04Z

How can we care for the elderly and poor while not bankrupting ourselves? My modest proposal turns the problem completely around. Rather than the poor and elderly being the cause of the problem, they instantaneously become its cure.

Read more: Second Amendment, Financial Crisis, Baby Boomers, A Modest Proposal, Jack Kevorkian, Federal Budget Deficit, Politics News

Robert Reich: Reframing the Debate

2013-05-30T12:12:06Z

Even as the economy slowly recovers from the worst downturn since the Great Depression, government-haters and deficit-hawks are sticking to their same story: Americans have lived beyond their means and must now learn to live within them. The reality is quite different.

Read more: Income Inequality, Economic Recovery, Economy, Wages, Middle Class, Great Recession, Deficit Hawks, Inequality, Video, Politics News

Martha Burk: EU Faces the Music: Congress Fiddles

2013-05-30T08:04:46Z

Is speedier air travel more important than lunch for senior citizens or early childhood education for pre-schoolers? How about cancer research, heating assistance, police protection, or special education? All have lost funding to the sequester.

Read more: Air Travel, Deficit, Politics News, Sequestration Impact, Faa, Unemployment, European Commission, Meals on Wheels, Cancer Research, Sequester Cuts, Sequestration Cuts, Head Start, Sequester, Eu, Austerity, Federal Aviation Administration, Politics News

Dean Baker: Excel Spreadsheet Error, Ha Ha! Lessons From the Reinhart-Rogoff Controversy

2013-05-27T19:39:55Z

The story of the Reinhart-Rogoff error tells us a great deal about how the elites use economists and the prestige of the economics profession in order to impose their will on the public.

Read more: Reinhart Rogoff Austerity Research Errors, Debt, Deficit, Personal Growth, Budget, Reinhart Rogoff Austerity, Reinhart Rogoff Budget Debate, Reinhart Rogoff Austerity Research, Business News

David Coates: The Half-Forgotten Debt Crisis

2013-05-25T09:54:17Z

The attention span in Washington, D.C. these days is remarkably short, and multi-tasking is something at which Congress seems particularly inept. So right now the focus there is overwhelming on just one thing: scandals, while the real business of the American people goes largely unexamined.

Read more: Progressive Case, UK Economy, Unemployment, Federal Deficit, Eurozone Crisis, Budget Cuts, Imf, Reinhart and Rogoff, Student Loan Debt, Keynesianism, Politics News

Robert L. Borosage: Washington's Sinkhole. Literally.

2013-05-23T13:22:26Z

We are sitting idly, watching, and suffering, as our nation disintegrates into a run-down backwater. At the same time, over 20 million people are in need of full-time work. Yet instead of grabbing this opportunity to rebuild the country, Washington is focused on cutting budgets.

Read more: Infrastructure Bank, Infrastructure, Jobs, Economy, Deficit, Austerity, Politics News

Club For Growth Directors Fail Their Own Purity Test

2013-05-22T09:28:23Z

WASHINGTON -- Chris Chocola, president of the Club for Growth, recently said his conservative advocacy group's "effectiveness lies in our uncompromisi...

Read more: Elections 2014, Club for Growth Gop, Government Contracting, Conservative Hypocrisy, Federal Contracts, Government Spending, GOP Candidates, Conservatives Government Spending, Video, Federal Budget Deficit, Club for Growth Directors, John Childs, Club for Growth, Tea Party, Chris Chocola, Politics News

David Weiss: Reducing the Deficit Through Foreign Aid

2013-05-21T11:06:56Z

Providing foreign aid means making a long-term investment in developing our aid partners, which results in both trade and security benefits for the U.S.

Read more: International Trade, Usaid, International Affairs, Foreign Aid, Jordan, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Federal Deficit, Global Communities, Pew Research Center, US Foreign Aid, Gallup Poll, Deficit Reduction, Congressional Budget Office, Foreign Assistance, World News

Congress Dodges Bruising Fight After Positive Report

2013-05-20T08:47:36Z

(Repeats story with no changes to text) By Jason Lange and David Lawder WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) - The chances of a ...

Read more: Grand Bargain, Deficit, Budget Cuts, Reuters, Congress Budget Deficit, Tax Cuts, Budget Deficit Congress, Budget Deal, Budget Deficit, Tax Reform, Safety Net, Politics News

Krugman: Austerity Policies Based On 'A Mythical 70s That Never Was'

2013-05-19T13:53:16Z

They say hindsight is 20/20, but according to Paul Krugman it may actually be much worse than that when it comes to economic policy-making.

The No...

Read more: Paul Krugman Austerity, Paul Krugman Deficit Reduction, Paul-Krugman-Austerity-Doctrine, Krugman Austerity Policies, Business News, Paul Krugman Deficit, Deficit Reduction, Krugman Debt, Austerity, Business News

Report Details How Obama Plan Could Trim Deficit

2013-05-17T15:51:52Z

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's budget would trim projected federal deficits by $1.1 trillion over the coming decade, using nearly $6 in h...

Read more: Deficit, Cbo, President Barack Obama, Budget, Obama Budget, Congressional Budget Office Report, Cbo Report., Obama, Congressional Budget Office, Politics News

Jack Lew Tells Congress Of Steps To Avoid Debt Default

2013-05-17T13:40:44Z

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is telling Congress that the administration will begin taking steps next week t...

Read more: Debt, Deficit, Congress, Video, Jack Lew Debt Default, Debt Default, Jack Lew Debt, 113th Congress, Jack Lew, Politics News

David Woolner: The Ongoing Crisis Demands Jobs, Not Deficit Reduction

2013-05-16T18:50:47Z

Unlike today's politicians, however, FDR refused to pander to the sky-is-falling rhetoric of the conservative right on the disastrous consequences that would accrue to the country by running a deficit in the midst of an economic crisis.

Read more: Deficit, Jobs, Fdr, Unemployment, Budget, Economy, Great Depression, Business News

Michael Farr: This Year's Deficit: Don't Break Out the Bubbly Just Yet

2013-05-16T14:28:55Z

It is most unfortunate that it takes a severe crisis to get anything done on Capitol Hill, but we fear that a new one will be required to effect material change.

Read more: Investing, Irs, Federal Budget Deficit, Budget Cuts, Budget, Internal Revenue Service, Economic Crisis, Economic Recovery, Economic Growth, Sequestration, Politics News