• Taking out the Trash
    Oct 17, 2008  - Many of you watched the final presidential debate on Wednesday night, and the candidates were asked, “What would you cut from the federal budget”.  If the answers given were unsatisfactory to you, the National Taxpayer’s Union (NTU) and Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), have teamed up t... More
  • Conservatives Mourn White House's `Abandoning' Reagan Legacy - Bloomberg
    Oct 15, 2008  - The heirs to the Reagan revolution say the free-market principles that have held sway for almost three decades in the U.S. are being undermined. And many of them blame the Bush White House. This week's announcement that the Treasury will buy equity stakes in nine banks for $125 billion capped a mo... More
  • Senate Democratic Whip Says End Iraq War to Pay for Bailout - CNSNews
    Sep 26, 2008  - Senate Democratic Whip Richard Durbin (Ill.) told CNSNews.com yesterday that one way Congress can pay for the proposed $700 billion bailout of the financial industry is to end the war in Iraq.    When asked whether federal spending should be cut in order to help fund the bailout package,... More
  • New Taxes for Energy that Won’t Produce
    Sep 16, 2008  - I am sure many of you have been paying attention to the debate (or lack thereof) on energy in Congress.  Well now the majority has decided to take up a bill after months of pleas from Republican members of the House.  However, this bill is designed to fail, and worse yet it increases spend... More
  • Take a Bite Out of Your Paycheck
    Sep 11, 2008  - Yesterday I blogged about the new CBO numbers on the deficit and the remarkable jump in the deficit figures. If that is extended over the full 2008-2018 period, CBO projects that spending will average 21.1% of GDP. Federal revenues have never exceeded 20.9% of GDP (a level reached in 1944, 2000). Ke... More
  • CBO Makes its Estimate
    Sep 9, 2008  - Today, the Congressional Budget Office released its latest figures on the deficit, and they aren’t good.  According to the report the federal government will run a deficit of $407 billion for the budget year that ends on Sept. 30.  Furthermore, CBO expects that if current policies remain... More
  • Guest Blog: Congressman Paul Ryan
    Aug 12, 2008  - Congressman Ryan (WI) is the Ranking Member from the Committee on the Budget, and the main designer of the American Roadmap.  America is on an unsustainable fiscal course. Today, the unfunded liability of just our two largest entitlement programs – Medicare and Social Security – is $40... More
  • Veteran’s Spending Bill Could Break the Appropriations Ice on House Floor - Congressional Quarterly Today
    Jul 30, 2008  - The House is expected as early as Wednesday to consider a record $118.7 billion spending measure to fund the Veterans lion spending measure to fund the Veterans Affairs Department and military construction projects in fiscal 2009. House action on the bill (HR 6599) indicates a symbolic thaw in the... More
  • The Budget Deficit
    Jul 29, 2008  - A few months ago I predicted that the deficit would be a half trillion dollars by the end of the year.  In fact now, the Office of Management and Budget is predicting the budget deficit will be at $490 billion next year. Well, I was off by $10 billion. But only for now. This Congress passes s... More
  • Veterans’ Spending Scheduled for House Floor; Defense markup Also Set - Congress Quarterly
    Jul 25, 2008  - The Appropriations process will gain a little momentum next week with the House set to consider the Military Construction-VA spending bill, while a subcommittee takes up the Defense bill.    The Military Construction-VA bill (HR 6599) is expected to be considered on the floor July 30, a... More