Repealing Obamacare will increase the deficit by $109 billion over 10 years. That was a headline from a CBO report in May when Republicans voted on full repeal of Obamacare. Somehow, when it comes to ascertaining the costs of wrongheaded policy, CBO wants us to engage in willing suspension of disbelief. The most costly entitlement will actually reduce the deficit, they claim. In Washington, up | Read More »
As part of the GOP Pledge to America in 2010, they made the following observation regarding suspension votes during the Pelosi Congress (page 34): The number of House legislative days devoted to action on noncontroversial and often insignificant “suspension” bills is up significantly in this Congress by comparison with the past several Congresses, wasting time and taxpayer resources. Of the bills considered under the suspension | Read More »
Drudge has linked to several articles this morning reporting on the record number of people below the poverty line in the country. The latest numbers from the Census Bureau show that 50 million people, including 20% of children in the country, are living below the poverty line. The poverty rate is at its highest levels since the ‘60s. The amazing thing about all these articles | Read More »
Paul Ryan released his budget proposal for FY 2014 today, and as expected, it will balance within 10 years. Let me first say that this budget would be superior to the status quo a million times over. Medicaid and Food Stamps would be block granted to the states and Medicare would be subject to at least some free market reforms. Most importantly, it defunds the | Read More »
Earlier today, Congressman Matt Salmon wrote an op-ed in the Washington Times echoing Erick’s call for conservatives to vote against the rule on bad legislation brought to the floor by leadership. The underlying rationale is as follows: if leadership is bent on bringing legislation to the floor that needs Democrat votes to pass, the only way to fight back is by voting against the rule | Read More »
The time for equivocation over defunding Obamacare is over. The time for recalcitrance to fulfill the budgetary is long overdue. Now is the time for action. Over the past two years, we’ve heard a variety of excuses in defense of Republicans for failing to cut spending in any consequential way. Well, come March 1 those excuses are obsolete. The sequester is something that Republicans agreed | Read More »
Throughout the past few years, we’ve noted that there’s too much focus on the dollars and cents of the budget. Even Obama and Democrats are talking about billions in spending cuts. It’s beginning to sound like an Old McDonald song: “a few trillion here and a hundred billion there; here a trillion there a billion, everywhere a spending cut.” However, once we cut through the | Read More »
If you read enough media, you’ll occasionally see something interesting. This morning two intelligent people wrote editorials on education and I found myself unsure whether I agreed with either. Perhaps I’m not as think as I stoned I am. Who knows? But in an era of tightening resources, hard choices have to be made. Educational spending will have to be included in the pile of reducible expenditures, so perhaps hearing out both Michelle Rhee and Jonah Goldbergwill help give us a better sense of what could work.
Read More »We’ve all been waiting to see the updated CBO Budget and Economic Outlook for 2013 and the next ten years. Most of the news articles are focusing their headlines on the deficit and debt numbers projected in the CBO report. But remember that the reason why CBO deficit projections always understate the reality is because they overstate the amount of revenue they expect to come | Read More »
“Those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.” — Barack Hussein Obama, Inaugural Address January 20, 2009
There were many things that were disappointing about President Obama’s first term.
The good folks at Reason TV take a look at some of the disappointments in a new video retrospective of Obama’s rhetoric versus reality.
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In the days leading up to President Obama announcing his gun control plans, and now that he has, the focus of Republicans and Conservatives has been squarely on his ever-encroaching attack on the Second Amendment. As Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus stated on the President’s move, “He paid lip service to our fundamental constitutional rights, but took actions that disregard the Second Amendment and | Read More »
Bend over Republicans, here they come again. Phil Klein is out with a column that I can only assume comes from House Republican Leadership talking points. I can only assume that because House Republican leaders and those close to them have been whispering about this scenario for about a month now to as many Republican strategists, pundits, and others as would listen. They want to | Read More »
Here’s a not-so-bold prediction: Congress will vote to spend more money today than it will cut over 10 years from any grand deal. Later today, the House will consider the additional $50 billion in Sandy aid in two parts (they already passed another $9.7 billion two weeks ago). The House will first try to pass a bill (H.R. 152) to provide about $17 billion to | Read More »
During the fight over the FY 2011 budget in 2011, conservatives were told to stand down and wait for the debt ceiling. At that point, “we would begin to cut trillions,” promised GOP leaders. They wound up caving on the debt ceiling in return for nothing. Then they said we would fight for the FY 2012 budget. Well, once we agreed to lock in the | Read More »
In one of the last votes of 2012, the Senate passed Obama’s bloated Sandy “relief” bill (H.R. 1) 62-32. The $60.4 billion price tag makes this the most expensive disaster aid bill on record. It’s full of special interest projects that have nothing to do with the emergency, as witnessed by the fact that 64% of the funds will not be spent until FY 2015. | Read More »
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