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With a 241-180 vote, the House last week approved legislation to provide $50.5 billion in appropriations to aid recovery from damage by Hurricane Sandy and to help prevent damage from future disasters. Including $9.7 billion that the House passed in…

As policymakers look towards the upcoming budget debates over the debt ceiling and “automatic” spending cuts (the sequester), those concerned with fiscal responsibility should be more focused on policy reforms than achievement of a specific deficit-reduction target.The idea that we…

In his press conference this week, President Obama suggested that policymakers only need to pass another $1.5 trillion worth of deficit reduction, on top of the $2.5 trillion already enacted, to stabilize the growth of the nation’s debt and, in…

Many states face severe fiscal challenges that could be made even more difficult by Washington’s budget problems, according to the State Budget Crisis Task Force. The bipartisan organization focused much of its research on six states. Its recently released reports…

President Obama last week praised White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew, his nominee for Treasury secretary, as someone who has his “complete trust” and has “built a reputation as a master of policy who can work with members of…

With Democrats and Republicans squaring off over upcoming budget decisions, The Concord Coalition is urging elected officials to promptly raise the federal debt limit and then reform the debt limit process. Such a reform could be part of a comprehensive…

Although recession-related pressures on state budgets may be easing, governors and other state officials around the country are worried about the potential impact of Washington’s fiscal difficulties. State finances are “modestly recovering in step with the slowly improving national economy,”…

Over the weekend, President Obama signed legislation to provide an initial $9.7 billion in disaster relief funding for states recovering from Hurricane Sandy. The funding will provide additional borrowing authority to enable the Federal Emergency Management Agency to continue processing…