A costly lease for the Maryland Department of Health, along with other findings in a state audit, raises questions about the millions in savings touted by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.
To keep Social Security solvent without cutting benefits would require a massive hike in payroll taxes, which would fall entirely on working Americans.
The bill, which could pass the Senate on Wednesday, would trim 13 cents from every $100 of federal spending.
It spends $34 billion to subsidize shipbuilding, supply chains, and drone technology.
This is what Washington calls compromise: The House proposes $1, the Senate proposes $2, and somehow, the government ends up spending $3.
Now nearly 100 state AI laws will remain in force—and nearly 1,000 more are already waiting in the wings.
The budget legislation is full of other expensive provisions that will add trillions to our sky-high national debt.
Subsidies inherently skew the market, and farm subsidies are no different.
House members who discovered objectionable elements only after voting for the package nevertheless underline the unseemly haste of the legislative process.
Plus: Harvey Milk was kind of libertarian, deporting Zohran, public schools shy away from transparency, and more...
Paul said he refuses to support "maintaining Biden spending levels," and Musk said the Trump-backed tax bill is "a disgusting abomination."
Musk's opinion about the bill matters, since he is one of the few people in conservative politics who can get away with defying Trump.
Higher debt means lower wages, higher interest rates, and fewer opportunities, says Romina Boccia of the Cato Institute.
Plus: A listener asks if the economic inequality data is bad.
Plus: That big, beautiful bill; Romanian election results; China's pivot to nuclear; and more...
Elon Musk promised $2 trillion in cuts but delivered only a tiny portion of that total. We asked seven policy experts to explain what he got wrong.
Lawmakers passed the largest spending plan in state history, pushing costs higher without delivering results.
We don't need more of the same. We need evidence of a serious turnaround.
The budget proposal calls for gutting federal energy funding and environmental justice initiatives.
The White House budget plan says the agency's failure to prove it was not complicit in a possible lab leak shows it's "too big and unfocused."
That's the highest total outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now Congress wants to borrow even more.
Lower-income families who spend the largest shares of their income on goods—and who have been badly hurt from the recent inflation—will likely suffer the most.
Despite efforts to rein in government debt, gold prices keep rising—suggesting investors aren’t buying the promises of fiscal responsibility.
Plus: A listener asks the editors whether a Kamala Harris presidency would have been preferable.
Every cut helps, but that's not where the money is.
The U.S. can defend itself at a lot less expense.
Entitlements are a much bigger expense, but that doesn't mean the waste doesn't matter.
It's great to have presidents talking about the need for a balanced budget, but Republicans are backing a plan that will increase borrowing.
At the current rate of inflation, the dollar will lose 33 cents of purchasing power within a decade.
"If the Republican budget passes, the deficit gets worse, not better," says Rep. Thomas Massie. He's right.
It tries to offset as much as $4.8 trillion—mostly for tax cut extensions—with only $1.5 trillion in supposed spending reductions.
"The only way you get less waste is to give them less money to spend," says the libertarian-adjacent senator from Kentucky.
Even if the Department of Government Efficiency eliminates all improper payments and fraud, we'll still be facing a debt explosion—which requires structural reform.
In the early 1990s, Bill Clinton's administration set out to "reinvent" government. What can the mercurial Tesla CEO learn from their efforts?
Republicans are betting trillions on the hope that the economy will grow fast enough to cover their deficit spree.
"Personnel is policy" has shaped past administrations. Kevin Hassett, who has been tapped to lead the National Economic Council, will have a hand in tax reform, debt reduction, and more.
Eliminating the deficit requires cutting the biggest spending—defense, Medicare, Social Security. So far, Trump says he won't touch those.
Almost exactly one year after Congress swore off self-inflicted fiscal crises, we're back to the same tired theatrics.
Billions of dollars in government revenue is a no-brainer.
The public worries about corruption and bureaucracy, but many want more of the same.
Inflation and rent prices are down, and the country has a budget surplus.
Not doing so could be harmful for just about everyone.
Restructured contracts may help franchises who have a certain competitive disadvantage.
Plus: Taking gerontocracy to new heights, a real life Arc Reactor, Happy Festivus, and more...
Part of the 1,500-page spending bill Congress is expected to pass this week would obligate federal taxpayers to fund the Key Bridge replacement.
Plus: More funding for the "disinformation" censors, more fines for cashless businesses, the link between pandemic shutdowns and murder rates, and more...
Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.
This modal will close in 10
