Federal Budget

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Bipartisan Scandal: Congress' Edifice Complex

John Fund | Posted 07.21.2008 | Politics

Read More: Politics, Government Waste, Congress, Apple, Bipartisan, Federal Budget, Congressional Oversight, Ethics, Monument to Me, Earmarks, Monuments, Politics News

Why does Congress hand out money to name buildings, bridges -- everything under the sun -- after its own living members? Until the 1960s, people had to die before they were memorialized in granite.

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Bush Freezes Medicare Fee Cuts

AP | JIM ABRAMS | Posted 06.30.2008 | Politics

Read More: Medicare, Medicare Finances, Doctors, George W. Bush, Health, Healthcare, Universal Healthcare, Federal Budget, Politics News

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration said Monday it will delay paying doctors for treating Medicare patients in early July to give Congress more...

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Bipartisanship Thrives -- At Least When it Comes to Earmarks

Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson | Posted 06.18.2008 | Politics

Read More: Taxes, Pork Barrel Spending, Congress, Earmarks, Federal Budget, Washington Post, Bipartisanship, Politics News

Earmarks are back on the scene. Despite repeated attempts to kill the industry, or at least weaken it, the current House defense authorization bill contains almost $10 billion dollars of red ink.

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Vampire Hunters, Taxes and the Campaign Trail

Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson | Posted 04.29.2008 | Politics

Read More: Taxes, Federal Budget, 2008 Presidential Race, Wesley Snipes, Wesley Snipes Trial, Irs, Politics News

Unlike Wesley Snipes, most Americans know they have to pay their taxes. The IRS estimates that Americans overall pay about 84 percent of what they owe. But the missing money isn't chickenfeed.

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Defense Spending Soars, While President Continues to Aim at Domestic Programs

Bob Greenstein | Posted 03.10.2008 | Business

Read More: Pentagon, Pentagon Spending, Defense-Related Programs, Defense, War on Terror, Budget, Bush Budget, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Defense Spending, Domestic Spending, War on Terror Spending, Federal Budget, Business News

There has been a spending explosion, but it's come in defense-related programs, which have grown 27 times faster than domestic discretionary programs over the past seven years.

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Where Are the Children in President Bush's Budget?

Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 03.10.2008 | Politics

Read More: Medicaid, Children's Health, Child Watch, Marian Wright Edelman, Budget, Schip, George W. Bush, Child Poverty, Poverty, Bush Budget, Federal Budget, Politics News

Even a cursory analysis of Bush's spending proposal reveals a failure in many areas to construct a budget that protects the well-being of children in low- to middle-income families.

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Presidential Candidates Channel Bart Simpson

Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson | Posted 03.03.2008 | Business

Read More: Social Security, Heritage Foundation, Home Heating Subsidies, Debt, Marriage Penalty, The Simpsons, Barack Obama, Bush Tax Cuts, Money, Federal Debt, Congressional Budget Office, Medicare, Hillary Clinton, Federal Budget, Alternative Minimum Tax, Brookings Institution, College Tuition Credits, Government Accountability Office, Business News

The majority of Americans can be impressively sensible and level-headed when they are given the facts and asked to consider trade-offs, but they don't like to be blindsided.

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Ah, for a Vote of No Confidence

Carl Pope | Posted 02.19.2008 | Politics

Read More: Forest Fires, Federal Budget, George W. Bush, Environment, Environmentalism, Forests, Healthy Forests, Politics News

Let's take a look at the last budget for the U.S. Forest Service.

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Earmarks: Faster And Easier Than Ever Thanks To Innovation

Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson | Posted 02.19.2008 | Business

Read More: Spending Bill, Tom Reynolds, DC Earmarks, Ted Stevens, Capitol Hill, King of Pork, Earmarks, Robert Byrd, Federal Budget, Henry Waxman, Business News

Its earmark season on Capitol Hill, and this year, thanks to technology, it will be even easier for members of Congress to get their earmark requests sorted out and submitted.

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It's Time to Be Honest about the Cost of the War in Iraq

Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson | Posted 02.11.2008 | Business

Read More: Congressional Budget Office, Iraq War, Federal Budget, Robert Gates, Taxpayers, Supplemental Spending Bill, American Taxpayer, Business News

Just how much will the Iraq war cost the American taxpayer next year? We don't know, and the people running the war (who should know) say they don't e...

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The Scorched Earth Begins

Carl Pope | Posted 02.06.2008 | Home

Read More: Alaska, Bush Administration, Federal Budget, George W. Bush, Home News

Seattle -- According to Wikipedia, the Scythians were the first to use the military tactic of scorched earth -- destroying your own homeland to deny i...

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Three Ugly Little Truths About The Federal Budget

Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson | Posted 02.05.2008 | Business

Read More: Social Security, Federal Budget Deficit, Cutting Federal Budget, Medicare, Medicaid, Congress, Federal Budget, Bush Budget, Business News

This country really needs to start thinking seriously about cutting spending, raising taxes, or doing some of both. The United States is a wealthy nation. We're not Haiti. There's no fundamental reason our government can't live within its means. But so far, it doesn't even deserve an "E" for effort.

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Read it and Weep: Bush's Last Budget

Robert L. Borosage | Posted 02.05.2008 | Business

Read More: National Priorities, Federal Budget, Election 2008, Economy, Bush, Bush 2009 Budget, John McCain, Business News

McCain and Romney and Huckabee provide the rhetoric. Mr. Bush's budget provides the numbers. Ever wonder how great powers decline?

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Another 3/4 Point Rate Cut Coming?

CNBC | Posted 01.23.2008 | Business

Read More: Rate Cuts, Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, Federal Budget, Unemployment, Business News

Forget a half-point cut. Wall Street is now speculating that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates another three-quarters of a point next week...

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US Trade Gap Widens In October To $57.8 Billion

Reuters Via CNBC | Posted 12.12.2007 | Business

Read More: US Economy, Interest Rates, Inflation, Employment, Trade Deficits, Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, Federal Budget, Consumers, Economy, Business News

The U.S. trade deficit widened slightly more than expected in October, as a record high price for imported oil over-powered the export-spurring benefi...

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No Budget? No Paycheck.

Chris Weigant | Posted 12.05.2007 | Politics

Read More: House, Budget, Appropriations, Paycheck, Federal Budget, Congress, Veto, Republicans, Democrats, President, Senate, Bush, Politics News

President Bush has been proven wrong in some big and spectacular ways this week. But while he continues to channel his foreign policy advice from Plu...

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