Federal Deficit, Federal Budget | featured news

Dems, GOP talk up deficit reduction, but don't act

Liberals' loud objections to White House proposals for slowing the growth of huge social programs make it clear that neither political party puts a high priority on reducing the deficit, despite much talk to the contrary....

 

Democrats, Republicans appear no closer to averting massive federal cuts next month

Nancy Pelosi

Congressional Democrats and Republicans appeared far apart Sunday on a deal to avert $85 billion in federal spending reductions next month, with a top House Republican saying the cuts appear “inevitable.” The automatic cuts, known as sequester, kick in March 1 because the parties have failed to agree on a less-drastic plan to cut the federal budget and deficit.

 

Obama disputes claims health care law will cost $340B more

Barack Obama: Universal Health Care

"In another attempt to re-fight the battles of the past, one former Bush administration official is wrongly claiming that some of the savings in the Affordable Care Act are 'double-counted' and that the law actually increases the deficit," said Jeanne Lambrew, a deputy assistant to the president for health policy. "This claim is false."

Senh: Ah, that explains yesterday's report. It's from a Republican. I wonder why Republicans are so against universal health care? Is it really just because it increases our deficit?

 

Health-care law will add $340 billion to deficit, new study finds

Health Care

President Obama’s landmark health-care initiative, long touted as a means to control costs, will actually add more than $340 billion to the nation’s budget woes over the next decade, according to a new study by a member of the board that oversees Medicare financing.

 

Americans blame all sides for committee failure: poll

Americans blame the failure of the debt "super committee" on everyone involved, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday, despite the best efforts of Democrats and Republicans to point fingers at each other.

 

Panel set to fail to cut deficit $1.2 trillion

Panel set to fail to cut deficit $1.2 trillion

It's just about over for a special deficit-reduction supercommittee, which appears set to admit failure today in its quest to sop up at least $1.2 trillion in government red ink over the coming decade. The bipartisan 12-member panel is sputtering to a close after two months of talks in which key members and top congressional leaders never got close to bridging a fundamental divide over how much to raise taxes. The budget deficit forced the government to borrow 36 cents of every dollar it spent last year.

 

Lawmakers urge supercommittee to ‘go big’ on deficit reduction

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from both houses urged the deficit-reduction supercommittee Wednesday to “go big” as it nears a deadline to avoid mandatory across-the-board cuts, telling the panel it has significant congressional support for a deal that would cut the deficit by about $4 trillion. But Democrats and Republicans on the supercommittee later held separate meetings amid mounting pessimism that the 12-member panel would be able to reach an agreement.

 

FACT CHECK: GOP lawmakers spin funding tall tales

It's an outrageous tale: The federal government spends one out of every $10 in transportation aid on wasteful projects such as refurbishing a giant roadside coffee pot and constructing turtle tunnels.

 

Replacing $1 bill with coin could save $5.6 billion

Replacing $1 bill with coin could save $5.6 billion

A proposal to phase out the $1 bill and replace it with a $1 coin could be gaining currency as the "supercommittee" looks to find ways to save the government money... The move to a coin would cost money in the short term, but eventually save money because paper currency lasts about 42 months — while coins theoretically last forever. Moving to a coin could save $5.6 billion over 30 years, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Senh: It's over 30 years, though - so, very roughly $200M/year if we round it up to $6B in savings. That's not bad. It just means more coins in my pocket now. I didn't know paper money only lasts about 3.5 years. What do people do with worn out money? Do they just go to the bank and exchange it for new ones?

 

Congress settles funding fight, for now

Congress settles funding fight, for now

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that puts the government on stable financial footing for six weeks but does nothing to resolve a battle over spending that is likely to flare again.

 

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