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…
The administration has updated its economic and budget projections, indicating that this fiscal year’s deficit will be $1.2 trillion, down $116 billion from the administration’s estimate last February. But this drop is based partly on the assumption that some proposed…
Although intense partisanship has repeatedly sidetracked Congress this year, some lawmakers have risen above it in trying to address the country’s fiscal and economic challenges. (more…)
Uncertainty over how elected officials will deal with key fiscal decisions this year is already “weighing on the economy” and probably reducing spending by individuals and businesses, according to Doug Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). “We think…
