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.
Budget
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.
Congressional Budget Incompetence Can't Compete with Spankgate, Girthergate, Shitgazi
The president is who he is, and that's sad. But Congress has no excuse for not passing a budget and doing its job.
GOP Leaders Tell Fiscal Hawks To Fly Away, No Budget This Year
Republican leaders spent most of the Obama years attacking rising debt and massive spending. Now that they control the budget, they could not care less.
Congressional New Year's Resolutions
Read bills before voting, and other ways Congress can be less terrible in 2018.
Tax Reform Was Easy, Spending Cuts Are Un-possible
President Trump and the GOP leadership has already reneged on promises to tackle entitlements.
U.S. Military Will Cost About $6 Trillion* Over Next Decade, Says CBO
*Not including the cost of ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Niger...or the $4.8 trillion debt already accumulated from the post-9/11 wars.
The GOP's Deficit Trigger is a Self-Deceiving Budget Gimmick
Republicans want to create the illusion of deficit control.
Ex-Presidents We Want to Drink With: Podcast
This week's show covers the John Kelly phone flap, former presidents against Trump, and why Republicans are only pretending to be worried about the budget.
Trump, Pelosi, and Schumer Are Besties: The Case Against Bad Bipartisanship
The president and congressional Democrats just worked together on a bad debt ceiling and budget deal.
Trump Budget Full of Spending Increases
Proponents of government spending warned of a budget full of cuts, but that's not what happened.
Kansas' Tax Cut Experiment Was A Predictable Failure
People like lower taxes, just not lower spending. Kansas is a lesson that you can't have the former without the latter.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Nevertheless It Persists: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Fights Trump, Congress, and Federal Courts in Effort to Remain Unaccountable to Anyone
The CFPB is fighting a three-front war against Congress, the Trump administration, and in the courts to maintain its unaccountable status.
The Battle of Budget Ideas Rages On
The 2018 federal budget suggests small but necessary reforms.
Trump's Budget to Preserve the Swamp?
Republicans dodge another opportunity to rein in spending.
Trump's Half-Baked Budget
Its projection relies on giddy GDP growth estimates that few credible economists, liberal or conservative, take seriously.
Trump's Budget Plan: The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly
It doesn't cut overall spending, it's based on gimmicks, but it does slash some programs.
Trump Budget: The Return of Rosy Scenario?
Congressional Budget Office projections vs. Office of Management and Budget projections
The Awful Health Policy and Cynical Politics of Trump's Budget Plan
The president wants to cut Medicaid but leave Medicare untouched, rewarding supporters at the expense of America's long-term finances.
Hey Libertarians: Prepare To Be Disappointed in Trump's 10-Year Budget Plan
He'll cut less than we want, exaggerate economic growth, and pretend it all balances out in 2028.
Trump's Tough Talk in Saudi Arabia, Cultural Appropriation Follies, And Protesting Mike Pence [Reason Podcast]
What happens when rhetoric is good but totally divorced from reality, whether the topic is the budget or war?
Congress's Budget Bill Spends Billions on Useless Light Rail
Trump's abandoned "skinny budget" would have cut wasteful rail spending.
Rand Paul: Budget Deal Should Be Renamed 'The Status Quo Protection Act'
Libertarian-leaners are lonely voices on Capitol Hill opposing the latest bipartisan spending spree
The Pope Slams Libertarians & Trump's 'Skinny Budget' Be Damned [Reason Podcast]
Reason editors Katherine Mangu-Ward, Stephanie Slade, and Peter Suderman discuss the week's news.
Trump Wants to Avoid a Government Shutdown by Funding a Border Wall and Illegal Obamacare Subsidies
The deal floated by the president reveals his governing priorities.
The Coming Federal Fiscal Binge
Ready for another round of tax cuts combined with spending increases?
Turns Out Congressional Republicans Don't Really Want to Cut Spending
GOP politicians admit that President Trump's draconian cuts to the regulatory state aren't going to happen.
Trump's Military Budget Is Not NATO's Fault
Trump leaves the impression that Americans shoulder an unnecessarily large military burden because some NATO members underfund their military establishments. But that's nonsense.
Apparently Tax and Spending Cuts are Either Too Small or Too Big, but Never Just Right
Advocates of ever increasing spending will never meet a cut they won't overreact to.
Hacking Away at the Budget Is the Humane Thing To Do
It's a tragedy that President Trump didn't use this moment to try to cut more, and to cut the biggest unsustainable spending: Medicare and Social Security.
Upset About Budget Cuts to the National Institutes of Health? Blame the National Institutes of Health
The NIH's track record suggest that Trump's proposed $6 billion budget cut won't be the end of science, progress, or discoveries.
Trump Budget Cuts: Real or 'Reality' Show?
The Trump "budget cuts" are best understood as a kind of theater or performance art.
UPDATED! Seniors Won't Starve if Meals on Wheels Loses Government Grants
Most chapters get majority of funding from philanthropy, not tax dollars.
Trump Budget Ends Subsidies for Rural Airports, Promising $175 Million in Savings
Cutting those subsidies makes a lot of sense, and could be done without cutting rural communities out of the nation's transportation networks.
Trumpocalypse Reality Check: Government Spending This Century Has Grown from $3.2 Trillion to $7 Trillion
An unrealistically draconian budget that doesn't even cut spending is greeted with predictable hysteria.
The Community Development Block Grant Program Is Awful and Should Be Cut
HUD program a significant source of corruption and cronyism, and much less about helping the poor
Why Trump's Budget Blueprint Loses Libertarians
Defense and Homeland Security hikes make up for cuts in discretionary spending. Does the government always need to spend $4 trillion?
Trump Considering TSA Budget Cuts, Higher Fees on Airline Passengers to Help Pay for Border Wall
But at least the TSA's totally useless behavioral detection program will face some cuts.
Trump to Demand $54 Billion Hike in Military Spending, But "Austerity Makes the Best Auditor"
Trump says government has to learn to do more with less, but the military doesn't.
The NEA Today, Entitlements Tomorrow
Is the OMB's kill list a sign of fiscal seriousness or the opposite?
Military Leaders Request $30 Billion Budget Increase
They want to end the 2011 sequestration that caps defense spending.
Rand Paul, Justin Amash Trash the GOP Majority's Debt-Ridden Budget Plans
The Kentucky senator is taking steps to distance himself from Republican leadership.
Can Mick Mulvaney Tame the Budget?
Trump's pick for the Office of Management and Budget isn't afraid to take on reckless defense spending.
Will a Zombie Congress Devour Our Gains?
Well...more than the non-zombie Congress already does.
