Blogs

Members of Congress may soon be heading home for their August recess with little to show in the way of progress on the federal budget. Congress has yet to pass a single appropriations bill to fund government agencies beyond Sept.…

The city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy on Friday, making it the largest city in the United States to do so. A number of factors led to the city’s current fiscal hole, including outsized pension obligations, a shrinking population, and high…

Three recent reports by credit ratings agencies (Moody’s Analytics, Fitch Ratings and Standard and Poor’s) have shown some improvement in the credit outlook for the United States, mostly due to the steadily improving economy and the declining deficit.Moody’s and Standard…

For those who follow the credit rating agencies’ assessments of the United States, the past several weeks have offered mixed messages. Overall, some improvement has been noted, mostly due to the steadily improving economy and the declining deficit. Concerns remain,…

The House passed a farm bill last week after its first attempt failed at the end of June. To get more Republican votes, all funding for the food stamp program was removed from the legislation -- funding which made up…

The House and Senate appear to be making little effort to work out their differences over spending levels, let alone any broader budget deal that might involve President Obama.“We no longer have ‘regular order’ so much as we have regular…

The Senate passed a sweeping immigration bill last week aided by a costly amendment that directs $46.3 billion more to be spent on border security than under current law. The Senate waived its budget rules to pass the legislation.The Congressional…

In a letter last week to their Senate colleagues, the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee -- Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) -- explained their plans to push for dramatic reform of the tax code.The…