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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Budget

News                                                                                                                             
CNN Money | Budget battle: What got cut
The bill terminates eight government programs, for savings of $1.24 billion, while an additional $2.7 billion in earmarks are eliminated.
ABC News | Social Security Scare: Is Government Running Out of Funds?
Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are hesitant to put Social Security on the chopping block, but with the U.S. debt growing rapidly, time to reform the 76-year-old program is running out, experts say.
Examiner | Biden to referee Hill talks on budget
Vice President Biden has been tapped by his boss to referee budget talks between congressional Republicans and Democrats, who are miles apart on how to fund the federal govenrment for the remainder of the fiscal year that ends September 30.
USA Today | House budget cuts target poison control, product safety
Senate supporters say they'll work to retain federal funding of poison control centers and a new product safety complaint database, both targeted by House budget cutters, when they take up the controversial government spending bill.
CNN Politics | Napolitano defends proposed Homeland Security budget
If House-approved cuts "become the basis for the FY12 budget, then I think the Congress needs to understand ... that, in all likelihood, will have a security impact," Napolitano said.
Fscal Times | The Federal Subsidy That Just Won’t Die: LIHEAP
The federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program has been rescued from the budgetary dead so many times it’s like it came from the biblical story of Lazarus. It was created in 1981 on the heels of the 1970s energy crisis — and is designed to help poor people in cold climates heat their homes in winter or pay utility bills to get air conditioning in summer.
Source | Obama Seeks Budget Talks, But GOP Awaits Democratic Plan
With the White House pressing for quick resolution of a congressional impasse on spending, House Republicans face a crucial decision: Insist on sticking with controversial policy provisions or opt for a package that could reach the president's desk relatively quickly.

Econ Comments                                                                                                             
Washington Times | RUGY & FICHTNER: Don’t raise the debt ceiling
It’s time to finally draw the line.
NationalJournal | GOP's Cuts Would Cost 200,000 Jobs, Bernanke Says
Republican plans to cut $60 billion from the federal budget would cost roughly 200,000 American jobs, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the House Financial Services Committee today.
Politico | Right pressures Mitch McCOnnell on budget
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is facing enormous presure from conservatives not to budge on major spending cuts, so he is aligning himself with Republicans who are warning him not to negotiate anything less than the %60 billion the House GOP has vowed to slash.
NRO | Setting the Record Straight
"If you pass my budget, we'll start living within our means and start paying down the debt,"

Blogs                                                                                                                             
Marginal Revolution | David Leonhardt on the state pension shortfall
If state and local governments instead assumed a future return of 7 percent, their funding gap would nearly double, to $1.3 trillion, according to Alicia Munnell and her colleagues at the Boston College retirement center. If they assumed a 6 percent return, the funding gap grows to $1.8 trillion.
Atlantic: Megan McArdle | Will the GOP's Budget Cuts Drive the Economy Into the Ditch?
For some reason, over the last few days, the claims about the effects of GOP budget cuts keep getting more theatrical.
Cato Institute | Two-Week Budgets?
Runaway spending, deficits, and debt as far as the eye can see. If it takes two-week budgets to keep the nation's eye on the ball, so be it, as the man said. That's what the last election was about.
Forbes: Jerry Bowyer | What Global Markets Say About U.S. Default Risk
The event futures’ market over at Intrade has an active contract on a downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt ratings, and since debt ratings are attempts to assess risk of default, it appears that those market participants at least are thinking about a default.
Heritage Foundation | The Balanced Budget Debate Begins
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has offered a Sense of the Senate Amendment to the Patent Reform Act of 2011 testing the waters on the idea of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | U.S. Getting Closer to $14.29 Trillion Debt Ceiling
As of Monday, the U.S. had $14.14 trillion in debt subject to the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling, according to the government’s Bureau of Public Debt. This is up from $14.0 trillion Jan. 28.

Reports                                                                                                                         
Mercatus Center | Improving the Accuracy of U.S. Government Debt Estimates
U.S. government estimates suggest that growing public debt threatens the stability of the financial system. However, there is wide variability across estimates of the size and trajectory of federal debt levels and the forecasting track record is poor. This paper analyzes the differences among estimates and argues that modeling innovations are needed to improve public financial policy making and administrative management.