News
Market Watch | Obama expects deficit deal within two weeks
Congress and the White House can strike a deal to cut the deficit and raise the debt ceiling “over the next week to two weeks,” President Barack Obama said Wednesday.
CNN: Money | Debt ceiling: Cut, cap and balance ... or else
The proposal, made by a big group of House Republicans, would: cut federal spending in the next fiscal year by $380 billion; cap spending at 18% of the size of the economy within five to six years from now; and amend the Constitution to require Congress to balance the budget every year and make it more difficult for lawmakers to raise taxes.
Politico | EPA funding cuts outlined by GOP
Following on April’s budget agreement, the Environmental Protection Agency is again a major target, and the reduced $7.15 billion EPA funding would mean a $1.53 billion or 18 percent cut from current spending, much of which would come at the expense of clean water programs.
Econ Comments
Daily Caller | D.C. never cuts spending
Here’s some friendly fiscal advice: Any time some Washington big shot like Ben Bernanke or Tim Geithner claims that immediate spending cuts in the debt deal will harm the economy — ignore them. Completely. You know why? Because in this great country of ours, spending never goes down. Never.
WSJ | The Easy Way Washington Could Save $1 Trillion
How an independent agency could squeeze $1 trillion in savings from the bureaucracy.
Washington Post | Political math makes a debt deal harder
President Obama’s main goal is to get through this fight with the government still running and his support from the political center intact, even if this means substantial concessions to Republicans.
WSJ | The Only Reform That Will Restrain Spending
All 47 Senate Republicans now support changing the Constitution to balance the federal budget.
Washington Post | Dishonesty in the debt talks
Every serious observer knows that we need to increase our country’s debt ceiling and get behind a comprehensive, balanced, bipartisan solution to our $14 trillion debt and our $1.5 trillion annual deficit.
Blogs
Cato @ Liberty | I’m Willing to Go Along with President Obama’s ‘Balanced Approach’ to Deficit Reduction, but Only if We Use Honest Math
The President has issued an ultimatum that more tax revenue must be part of budget negotiations. Indeed, he endlessly repeats his desire for a “balanced approach,” implying that as much as 50 percent of the deficit reduction in any agreement should come from higher revenues.
Reports
Mercatus Center | Stimulus Spending and Unemployment
The administration’s promise that the ARRA bill would keep unemployment rates from breeching 8.8 percent and would create some 3 million jobs—90 percent of which would be in the private sector – did not materialize.
