News
WSJ | Debt-Crisis Vote Goes Down to Wire in House
The House was headed for a cliffhanger vote Thursday on a revised debt plan from Republican Speaker John Boehner that could go a long way in determining if the government's borrowing limit is raised in time to avoid a possible default next week.
CNN Money | Debt ceiling: The trillion dollar mystery
House Speaker John Boehner says his bill has $1.2 trillion in discretionary spending cuts over ten years. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says his bill has about the same level of such cuts.
WSJ | S&P Stays Mum on Rating for U.S.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services left the threat of a downgrade hanging over the U.S., declining to tell anxious lawmakers on Wednesday whether rival tax and spending plans floated in Washington would save the U.S.'s triple-A credit rating.
FT | Insurance cost against US default hits record
The cost of buying insurance against a default by the US rose to a record on Wednesday, in a sign of growing unease that gridlock in Washington over raising the federal debt ceiling may result in the Treasury failing to pay interest to bondholders.
Econ Comments
Politico | In pursuit of a balanced budget
As Washington struggles to find a way to raise the debt ceiling, one piece likely left out of a compromise is the Balanced Budget Amendment. That’s a shame.
Bloomberg Businessweek | Why the Debt Crisis Is Even Worse Than You Think
If Washington is deadlocked now, how will it deal with the much bigger debt problems that lurk in the decades to come?
FreedomWorks | Top 10 Reasons to Support 'Cut Cap Balance' over Boehner Plan
This fight is not about raising the debt ceiling. It’s about getting the debt under control. Which means getting Washington spending under control.
RCM | Growth Should Inform Debt-Ceiling Debate
In the last few centuries, the betterment of mankind's lot has resulted from overall economic output increasing-that is, growing not redistributing wealth. And that increase in output has been driven by free market capitalism-an economic system where the entrepreneur can only succeed by serving the needs of others.
Washington Times | MCCLINTOCK: Debt reduction means difficult decisions
Families get what Washington doesn’t: Live within your means.
Blogs
NRO: The Corner | Worried About a Downgrade?
We are not going to address our long-term debt problems without making changes to health-care and retirement spending. We just aren’t. Being worried about a downgrade should mean being willing to talk about reforming entitlements.
Heritage Foundation | The Truth about Obama’s Budget Deficits, in Pictures
The fact is that Obama’s budget would set America on a dangerous fiscal course that leads to massive deficits well into the future—hitting $1.2 trillion in 2012 and, after dipping slightly, rising back to $1.2 trillion again by 2021.
Reports
CRS | Statutory Limits on Total Spending as a Method of Budget Control
Often when there is dissatisfaction with budgetary levels, budget process reforms are proposed to mandate a specific budgetary policy or fiscal objective. This report focuses specifically on one such budget process reform—the concept of creating a statutory limit on total spending.
