#Discretionary Spending

Congressional leaders last week appointed the joint committee charged with finding most of the savings promised in the recent deal to raise the debt limit.Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) will chair the new panel, widely referred…

With time running short to raise the federal debt limit, Republicans and Democrats are planning votes this week on competing plans that President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner championed in speeches to the country Monday night.Obama called for “shared…

While the final outcome of the appropriations process this year will likely be affected by negotiations over the debt limit, in the meantime Congress has continued to make progress on the FY 2012 bills.Last week, the House passed the Energy/…

This week Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Ok.) proposed a comprehensive plan to reduce projected federal borrowing by $9 trillion over ten years and the bipartisan “Gang of Six” senators outlined a $4 trillion deficit-reduction plan to their colleagues. President Obama this…

Recent reports by Brown University and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) underscore the need for Congress to honestly account for war costs, both past and present, and to factor them into long-range planning.The Brown University report, authored by Neta C.…

An economically "sustainable" debt is one that does not rise faster than our means to ultimately pay it off. So federal deficits as a share of our economy should ideally be no larger than the economy’s growth rate.We must focus…

President Obama began his direct involvement in budget negotiations Monday by meeting separately with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The White House called for a “balanced” approach that would include some additional revenue from…

After a week-long recess, the House continued last week to make progress on FY 2012 appropriations bills. The second and third bills to clear the House were for Military Construction/ Veterans Affairs and Agriculture.The House Appropriations Committee completed action on…