#Discretionary Spending

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…

After months of debate and negotiation, Congress on Tuesday approved legislation to avoid the most immediate consequences of the “fiscal cliff” but that falls far short of the more comprehensive reforms that many advocates of fiscal responsibility had hoped to…

The federal debt is a “ticking time bomb” that puts the U.S. economy at risk, jeopardizes our standard of living and threatens national security, according to a new report by Strengthening of America – Our Children’s Future.Strengthening of America is…

Last Friday the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a report detailing the effects of automatic spending cuts scheduled to begin taking effect in January. The cuts are required by the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) because the Joint…

Beginning in January, approximately $109 billion in across-the-board spending cuts are scheduled to automatically take effect. Known in budget policy circles as a “sequester,” these cuts are unusual in that the executive branch directs how the spending cuts occur, as…

In a 64-35 vote, the Senate last week approved bipartisan legislation to reauthorize farm programs for the next five years. The legislation covers a wide variety of programs administered by the Department of Agriculture, including those that provide farm income…

Throughout this painfully prolonged economic recovery, economic developments as they are reported have often been confusing. They seem to send mixed messages about the best courses of action for fiscal policy. (more…)