News
National Journal | First 2012 Spending Bill Approved by Senate Appropriations Committee
Military construction-Veterans' Affairs bill would provide $142 billion in total funding, including $72 billion in discretionary spending.
CNN Money | Minnesota government shuts down
A budget stalemate forced a virtual full shut down of the Minnesota government on Friday and left only a limited array of state services in operation over the busy holiday weekend.
Politico | Republicans to push tough-to-sell balanced budget amendment
One option contains hard spending caps and a two-thirds supermajority vote for any tax increases. This version is embraced by the right but has little chance of passing.
WSJ | Obama Pushes for a Deficit Deal by July 22
The Obama administration believes congressional leaders must agree to a deficit-reduction deal by July 22 in order to raise the government's borrowing limit in time to avoid a default in early August, according to Democratic officials with knowledge of the negotiations.
Econ Comments
National Journal | Failure on Debt-Ceiling Talks May Mean Constitutional, Economic Double Bind
Does the 14th Amendment hold the answer to potential default?
WSJ | Debate Decoder: What the Euphemisms in the Debt Standoff Really Mean
If you couldn't follow that declaration from the president's news conference Wednesday, don't feel bad. Both Democrats and Republicans are trading partisan shots wrapped in code words, which mean a lot to insiders but are hard for others to follow—often intentionally so.
Washington Times | WHEELER: Defense appropriations: pork and gimmicks, as usual
Democrats and Republicans alike pretend that austerity is the new rule.
WSJ | The GOP's Debt-Ceiling Divide
The Biden talks give budget hawks a chance to carve away some of the GOP's own sacred-cow subsidies.
Blogs
Mercatus Center: Neighborhood Effects | Do Revenues Need to be Part of the Debt Solution?
We are not the first nation to wrestle with unsustainable debts. And fortunately for us, we can learn from the measures that others have taken.
NRO: The Corner | WaPo’s Fact Checker on the Debt-Ceiling Debate
First, Glenn Kessler notes, correctly, that the debt ceiling will ultimately have to be raised. It is a sad reality that under any of the proposed budgets out there, including Chairman Ryan’s, our debt will grow, at least for a while.
Reports
Mercatus Center | The Debt-Limit Debate: Addressing Key Concerns
While most are keenly aware of the rapidly nearing debt-limit increase deadline, few can explain—or even agree on—what that deadline means: specifically, what are the potential implications of missing the deadline, and what’s at stake in the negotiations for passing an increase?
