Blogs

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…

The Department of Defense has begun to scale back its operations to comply with $487 billion in spending cuts that were imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA).The Army plans to remove combat forces from 12 bases and…

Legislation to revamp the nation’s immigration laws is on track for Senate approval this week after an expensive border security amendment passed a key procedural vote yesterday. The amendment would cut into the projected savings of the original legislation, providing…