News
CNS News | March Madness: U.S. Gov't Spent More Than Eight Times Its Monthly Revenue
During the month, according to the Treasury, the federal government grossed $194 billion in tax revenue and paid out $65.898 billion in tax refunds (including $62.011 to individuals and $3.887 to businesses) thus netting $128.179 billion in tax revenue for March.
Reuters | Geithner warns U.S. to hit debt ceiling by May 16
The United States will hit the legal limit on its ability to borrow no later than May 16, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday, ramping up pressure on Congress to act to avoid a debt default.
WSJ | Congress Jousts as Budget Clock Ticks
Obama Calls White House Summit to Reach Spending Deal And Avert Government Shutdown; GOP Polishes 2012 Plan.
Business Insider | The 15 Countries That Are Buried Under The Most Debt
We've ranked the 15 states with the worst debt to GDP ratios, and added CDS prices (where available) to point out what the market thinks of their outlook.
Washington Times | House GOP offers last-minute shutdown reprieve
...House Republican leaders announced another one-week stop-gap spending bill late Monday night that would cut $12 billion more from 2010 spending levels.
Econ Comments
NY Times | To Cut the Deficit, Look to Social Security
Solving Social Security’s problems would not only reduce the long-term deficit, but also improve the future security of retirees.
RCM | U.S. Budget: Demagoguery and Sophistry Reign
After Pelosi became speaker in 2007 and Obama became president in 2009, annual federal spending jumped $1.1 trillion - 40 percent - thanks to additional spending on Medicaid, Medicare and other forms of income redistribution…
Financial Times | History will rue US and Europe debt woes
Will 23rd-century historians look back on today's fiscal follies with the same mixture of bemusement and disdain with which we now view…
Fiscal Times | Six Fiscal Issues that Could Shut Down Government
...for those keeping score, here are six of the hottest, most pressing fiscal issues to keep an eye on in the coming days and months…
Washington Times | BOND & DEAN: Using debt ceiling to force a balanced budget
Adopting a 10-year debt-reduction plan would be a starting point.
Cato Institute | Paul Ryan's Fiscal Framework
Ryan's budget proposes spending cuts, tax reforms, and the restructuring of entitlement programs.
Blogs
Washington Post: Federal Eye | Obama administration moving forward with government shutdown plans
...top administration officials have instructed agency officials to begin sharing details of shutdown contingency plans with top managers.
Bankrupting America | Did you get your money’s worth from Congress last week?
The House passed five bills or resolutions that would cost taxpayers more than $72 billion.
Cato@Liberty | Federal Spending: Ryan vs. Obama
...Ryan’s budget plan would make crucial reforms to federal health care programs, and it would limit the size of the federal government over the long term.
Reports
Mercatus Center | The Growth of Government: Public Goods and Public Choice
Adding state and local to federal, we see that total government spending in the United States has risen markedly as a share of GDP: then [beginning postwar] about 18 percent, now about 31 percent of GDP.
House Committee on the Budget | The Path to Prosperity
Where the President has failed, House Republicans will lead. This budget helps spur job creation today, stops spending money the government doesn’t have, and lifts the crushing burden of debt. This plan puts the budget on the path to balance and the economy on the path to prosperity.
