#Congress

My least favorite argument in deficit reduction debates is that a particular option can’t be chosen because it is too unpopular. If that criterion is strictly applied, we might as well fold our tents and wait for the inevitable fiscal crisis…

Congress still has not passed a budget resolution or any of the 12 appropriations bills for the current fiscal year, and its Continuing Resolution expires Dec. 3. Another item of unfinished business: Deciding whether to extend the Bush tax cuts…

By the end of the week, the political landscape in Washington will have changed. We will have a new Congress and attention will quickly turn to the 2012 presidential contest. Yet, regardless of who ends up in charge of Congress,…

The Social Security Administration announced on Friday that for the second year in a row there would be no cost-of-living increase in Social Security benefits for 2011. Why not? As the SSA explains, this is a straightforward, non-political determination based…

Before leaving Washington last week until after the election, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) to prevent a government shutdown. This was necessary because Congress failed to pass any of the 12 appropriations bills needed to fund the government in…

The government wrapped up Fiscal Year 2010 last week but let’s skip the champagne. The likely 2010 deficit of approximately $1.3 trillion and the previous year’s deficit of $1.4 trillion were the two largest federal deficits since World War II.But…

When Congress soon leaves the Capitol for the campaign trail, a long list of unfinished business will likely be left behind. This year will mark the first year since the modern budget process was created in 1974 that no budget…

House Republicans have outlined their fiscal priorities and ideas about reform in their “Pledge To America.” But while it correctly warns about the hazards of rising government debt, the Pledge lacks a plan to bring deficits down to a sustainable…