News
NY Times | States and Cities Brace for Less Federal Money
Mayors, governors and state lawmakers spent Monday trying to measure how much the deficit deal might cost them in aid, a frustrating task given the fact that many of the details of the reductions in federal spending will not be known until later in the year.
WSJ | Uneasy House OK's Debt Deal
Both Parties Find Fault With Bill; Senate to Vote Tuesday.
Econ Comments
Washington Times | RAHN: Democracy’s spending curse
Buying voter support with taxpayer funds inevitably ends in ruin.
Washington Times | BLANKLEY: Status quo shrugs off urgency - again
Timid establishment chooses incrementalism over saving the future.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Even the Fakery is Fake: Joint Committee is Not Required to Recommend $1.5 Trillion in Deficit Reduction
The “Budget Control Act of 2011″ (BCA) contains provisions for a joint committee of Congress, whose supposed job it is to make recommendations to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion.
Atlantic: McArdle | In Defense of the Debt Ceiling Deal
So, the debt deal. Basically, it's a small increase in the debt ceiling, and a small basket of spending cuts, combined with a large future increase in the debt ceiling, and a larger round of future . . . something.
Café Hayek | The power of the polemical
There is no evidence that the deal slashes spending. There isn’t any evidence that it cuts it. It might cut the rate of growth. We’ll see.
Kids Prefer Cheese | Rhetoric vs. Reality
"The federal government will still run a deficit of $1 trillion next year. This deal will “cut” the 2012 budget of $3.6 trillion by just $22 billion, or less than 1 percent."
EconLog | Compared to What?
I think it is reasonable to worry that the spending levels in this plan will become a floor rather than a ceiling.
ThinkMarkets | Spending Cuts and Politics of Bureaucracy
Professor Tullock derives his insights from the basic observation that when embedded in an administrative hierarchy that is supposed to serve some – typically vague – public interest, people remain individuals; they still have their own preferences and interests.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Reactions to the Debt Deal
Some people love the debt deal, some people say it goes too far, and some people say it doesn’t do enough.
Reason: Hit & Run | The Debt-Ceiling Debate is Dead! Long Live the Debt! Or, Will ObamaCare Cover What Krugman's Smoking?
In fact, the real reason to be bothered by the whimper with which the debt-ceiling squabble seems to be ending is this: It doesn't address the real issue, which is the debt load of the country.
NRO: The Corner | The Trigger and the Debt-Ceiling Deal
In fact, by 1990, it became very clear that Congress had put into place so many loopholes and exempted so much spending from sequestration that the entire framework was falling apart.
Reports
Heritage Foundation | A Dangerous Debt Ceiling Deal
The deep cuts in defense spending envisioned in the just-announced debt ceiling deal raise a fundamental question for Americans: Will we let a deal stand that promises to end American security as we know it?
