How To Get Better at Budgets
In a few countries, legislators have enacted policies that actually constrain spending. The U.S. has a lot to learn.
Budget
Deficit Politics May Have Gone Away, but Debt and Deficits Are Worse Than Ever
The federal budget situation used to be an emergency. What happened?
How Oakland Cops Gamed the System To Earn $30 Million in Overtime Pay
A new audit reveals how poor oversight and structural problems allowed one Oakland cop to earn $2.5 million in overtime pay in five years.
House Freedom Caucus Too Busy Scolding Justin Amash To Care About Today's Bipartisan Budget Apocalypse
What's the point of a "limited government" bloc that doesn't limit government?
Remy: Old Town Road (Lil Nas X & Billy Ray Cyrus Parody)
Making infrastructure funds fun again!
Trump's New Budget Uses More Realistic Assumptions Than His Predecessors' Did
Trump's budget projects 10 straight years of 3 percent growth. If this forecast fails to materialize, it will make the budget deficits worse than projected.
Trump's Budget Effectively Guarantees Trillion-Dollar Deficits Until 2030
Once you get past the rosy economic expectations, it's clear that Trump's budget is not a serious effort at fiscal restraint.
Politics Trump Policy Once Again in Budget Debate
The trouble with President Trump's new budget.
Trump Wants to Tax Your Juul
The White House's budget proposal would subject E-cigarettes and vaping products to a new "user fee," but it's really just a tax.
Trump's Budget Shortchanges the Prison Reform Bill He Signed
The FIRST STEP Act called for $75 million for reentry programs. It's not listed in the White House's summary.
Trump's $1 Trillion Infrastructure Plan Is Back
The administration's new $1 trillion infrastructure plan is light on both details and free market reforms.
Trump's Budget Would Add $7.9 Trillion to the National Debt Over the Next Decade
And the real outcome is likely to be worse, since the budget relies on overly rosy assumptions about future economic growth.
The Socialists Are Coming! Or Are They?: Podcast
Democratic mega-proposals, GOP budgetary fictions, prostitution decriminalization surprises, and Zardoz moments galore
White House Budget Calls for Domestic Spending Cuts, Military Spending Hikes, $8 Billion for Border Wall, Extension of Tax Cuts
The budget will take 15 years to balance and envisions trillion-dollar deficits through 2022, even with rosy economic assumptions.
White House's New Budget Gimmick: Include Immigration Enforcement Spending in the Uncapped Budget for Foreign Wars
Incredibly, the White House is trying to pitch this chicanery as an exercise in fiscal responsibility. Congress shouldn't buy it.
Spending Bill Ignores Promised Funding for Major Criminal Justice Reform Passed Last Year
The FIRST STEP Act was supposed to get $75 million to fund reentry programs and job training. That's missing from the budget bill being voted on Thursday.
CBO: Budget Deficit Numbers Are Better Than Expected, but We're Still Screwed
Unless we make some big changes, things won't get much better.
Time for Senate Republicans to Poke the Bear
The legislative branch is failing its basic constitutional duties, out of cowardly fear of a blustery president.
Thanks to Rising Debt, Republican Tax Policy Is Now Anti-Growth
In the long term, deficit-financed tax cuts would be a drag on the economy.
Congress Just Passed a $150 Billion Spending Package Without Any Consideration for Looming Trillion-Dollar Deficit
Just days after the latest CBO projections showed the deficit getting worse, Congress signs off on another bi-partisan spending increase.
Trump Remembers Budget Deficit, Announces Federal Pay Freeze
The federal government has run up a deficit of $684 billion this year. The CBO predicts that number will exceed $1 trillion in 2019.
The Senate Just Gave the Pentagon an $82 Billion Boost. That's More Money Than Russia's Entire Military Budget.
Democrats will oppose anything Trump wants, unless it's more money for the Pentagon.
Trump's Budget Only Reduces the Deficit If You Accept Some Very Unlikely Assumptions
The really scary thing is that even the CBO's more accurate assessment is also based on unlikely assumptions.
Rejecting Rand Paul's Budget, Republicans Commit to Fiscal Irresponsibility
Even the suggestion that defense spending could be cut is enough to scare most Republicans away from a facing fiscal reality.
Rand Paul's Plan to Balance the Budget by 2023 Will Get a Senate Vote This Week
Do Republicans have the guts to impose strict spending caps?
Republicans Have Finally Been Revealed as the Party of Fiscal Ruin
As Paul Ryan exits, a new CBO report confirms the extent of the GOP's damage to the nation's budget.
Trillion-Dollar Deficits Are Back and Here to Stay
The Congressional Budget Office is about to release a report. Spoiler alert: It won't be pretty.
The Spending Bill Brings Us Closer to National Bankruptcy
Thanks to Congress and President Trump, budget deficits will only mushroom.
A One-Page Provision About Minor League Baseball Shows How Broken Congress' Legislative Process Is
Congress kneecapped minor league ballplayers' lawsuit with last week's omnibus bill. Even if that was the right thing to do, the way it was done is wrong.
9 Ridiculous Things About the Omnibus Budget Bill
Spending. The Pentagon. TIGER grants. Border Wall. NSF. Planned Parenthood. CDC. Head Start. The whole process. I can't take it anymore.
The New Omnibus Is Terrible Because Congress Is Broken
The spending bill is a product of a broken, secretive, centralized legislative process.
Congress Is Still Ignoring Its Spending Problem as Deadline Looms for $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill
Four out of five voters agree that Washington has a spending problem, but a new omnibus spending bill will add yet more to the national debt.
Trump's New Budget Plan Proves He Won't Even Pretend to Care About the Debt
The era of big government is far from over.
Trump's New Budget Plan Is a Fiscal Disaster
The administration's spending blueprint continues the fiscal decline that began during the Bush era.
Please Enjoy These Videos of Paul Ryan Being Concerned About Debt and Overspending
"The real problem is that we spend way more money than we take in. We have to address that."
Rand Paul Single-Handedly Tries to Stop Massive Spending Plan (Update: Congress Passes Budget Deal)
"What you are seeing is recklessness being passed off as bipartisanship," said Paul on the Senate floor.
Senate Reaches Bipartisan Deal to Keep the Government Open By Spending More Money On Everything
Both parties agree on more spending and bigger deficits.
Rand Paul's Plan to Eliminate Government Shutdowns: Automatic 1 Percent Budget Cuts
Because nothing in Washington is more terrifying than the prospect of a minuscule spending reduction
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Wait: The Government Is Incompetent, So We Want it To Do *More*?
The feds can't pass a budget or do much very well, yet a record level of Americans want it more involved in our lives. That's not as crazy as it seems.
California Budget in Decent Shape, but Jerry Brown Missed Vast Opportunities
The governor often talks about fiscal frugality, responsibility and reform, but there isn't much follow-up action.
Does the Congressional Gym Lack Towels Due To Shutdown?
Everything you need to know about the Trump/GOP/Schumer/Pelosi/Democratic government shutdown of 2018 in a single tweet.
The Government Shutdown Is an Artifact of a Broken Budget Process
Budgeting isn't about budgeting anymore.
