Debt Ceiling Deal Curtails GOP-Backed Budget Cuts, Spending Caps
The deal will freeze non-military discretionary spending this year and allow a 1 percent increase in 2024.
Government Spending
Taxing the Rich Will Have No Meaningful Effect on Our Sky-High National Debt
The U.S. tax system is extremely progressive, even compared to European countries—whose governments rely on taxing the middle class.
Do the Natcons Get Anything Right?
Plus: A listener asks if the Roundtable has given the arguments of those opposed to low-skilled immigration a fair hearing.
Worried About the Debt Fight? Make the Hard Spending Decisions That Politicians Won't!
The debt ceiling isn’t the issue; excessive federal spending is the real problem.
As Rail Riders Disappear, the Feds Want To Spend $8.8 Billion Expanding a Rail Station
The rail lines servicing Washington, D.C.'s Union Station are carrying as little as a quarter of their pre-pandemic ridership. Officials still want to triple the station's capacity.
Did the Pentagon Just Make a $3 Billion Accounting Error—or Did It Do Something Even Worse?
The Pentagon’s “accounting error” will allow President Joe Biden to send an extra $3 billion in military aid to Ukraine without congressional approval. Was this deliberate?
Conservatives Pushing 'Common Good Capitalism' Sound a Lot Like Progressives
The ideology champions the same tired policies that big government types predictably propose whenever they see something they don't like.
There Is No Party of Immigration in American Politics
Plus: A listener question concerning the key to a libertarian future—should we reshape current systems or rely upon technological exits like bitcoin and encryption?
Did California Gov. Gavin Newsom's Luck Finally Run Out?
After getting lucky for his first few years in office, Newsom now faces his first major budgetary crisis. How he responds will show a lot about his leadership skills.
Lawsuit: It's Time To Start Paying Off Those Student Loans Again
The lawsuit claims that the pause has cost taxpayers "$160 billion and counting."
The Debt Ceiling Fight Is a Reminder of America's Dire Fiscal Future
The longer we wait to address our debt, the more painful it will be.
Biden Falsely Bragged About Lowering the Budget Deficit. Now, It Is Predictably Rising Again.
Last year, Biden was trying to take credit for "the largest drop ever" in the federal budget deficit. Now, the deficit is almost three times as large as it was a year ago.
Failing to Reform Social Security Means Mandatory Cuts
Social Security will become insolvent in the early 2030s if Congress does nothing.
Biden, Yellen Won't Rule Out Declaring Debt Ceiling Unconstitutional
Plus: Kansas voting restrictions struck down, the legacy of the "vast wasteland" speech, and more…
Vivek Ramaswamy Is Wrong About the National Debt
We can't grow our way out of its ruinous economic impact. The only way forward is to cut spending.
Biden's Student Loan Plan Could Cost Twice as Much as Projected
Unlike the Education Department's estimates, a CBO analysis considers how the new rules will encourage more students to take out loans they won't be able to pay back.
The Clock Is Ticking: U.S. Could Default on Debt Payments by June 1
It's time for President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to strike a deal that will avoid a default and cut spending.
Joe Biden Wants 4 More Years 'To Finish the Job.' What Job?
Plus: A listener question scrutinizing current attitudes toward executive power
Problems With Mass Transit Won't Be Solved With More Money
The transit systems we're supposed to hop aboard ultimately operate as jobs programs for government workers.
Don't Believe the Media Fearmongering About Spending Cuts
In 2019, discretionary spending was $1.338 trillion—or some $320 billion less than what Republicans want that side of the budget to be.
The House GOP Debt Ceiling Plan Would Restore Spending Caps. Good.
The most important part of the Limit, Grow, Save Act is the limits.
The Biden Administration Reduced the Debt-to-GDP Ratio in the Worst Possible Way
The main driver behind the reduction is inflation—inflation that politicians created with their irresponsible spending.
Inflation Means We're Spending More Money on Less Highway
A new report from Reason Foundation shows that in 2020, highway quality improved while spending stayed flat. Inflation is now wrecking that progress.
These Members of Congress Have a Revolutionary Idea: Write and Pass a Budget the Old-Fashioned Way
A return to so-called normal order wouldn't fix all of Washington's many problems, but it would be a step in the right direction.
Why Do Public Schools Suck and What Should We Do About Them? Live With Corey DeAngelis and Connor Boyack
Join Reason on YouTube and Facebook on Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a live discussion with the authors of Mediocrity: 40 Ways Government Schools Are Failing Today's Students
Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden, and the Deeply Unserious Debate Over the Debt Ceiling
An impasse created by years of politicized, myopic decision making in Washington is pushing the federal government ever closer to a dangerous cliff.
Taxes Are Not the Mark of Civilized Society
Contra the famous quotation from Oliver Wendell Holmes, there's nothing particularly civilized about the way our governments spend the money we provide.
Is Clarence Thomas Ethically Challenged?
Plus: What the editors hate most about the IRS and tax day
Heaton Fixes the Student Debt Crisis
How to—and how not to—help solve the college debt problem.
Ax Government Funding for NPR
NPR is no Xinhua, but Elon Musk is correct that it doesn't need government subsidies.
Biden's 'Buy American' Rules Are Getting in the Way of Biden's Rural Broadband Push
Industrial policy is never as simple as it seems.
IRS Is 48 Days Late To Issue Report Telling American Public How It'll Spend New $80 Billion
The agency’s new report tells us practically nothing of significance.
Republicans' and Democrats' Refusal To Reform Social Security and Medicare Is Political Malpractice
In 10 years, the programs' funds will be insolvent. Over the next 30 years, they will run a $116 trillion shortfall.
Poll Finds That Americans Care Less About 'Community Engagement.' Government Is Largely to Blame.
The ballooning of government has 'crowded out’ institutions of civil society, says AEI’s Howard Husock.
Social Security Will Be Insolvent by 2033
New data from the program's trustees show that insolvency will hit a year sooner than previously expected, giving policy makers just a decade before automatic benefit cuts occur.
Progressive Politicians Are Regulating Their Own Projects Into Oblivion
Excessive government interference in the market hurts consumers and thwarts policy goals. It also gets in the way of the government itself.
Nobel Prize–Winning Economist: Democrats Are Committed 'To Spending Other People's Money'
Vernon Smith weighs in on Biden's budget, how government causes inflation, and why bailing out Silicon Valley Bank was a bad idea.
This Year's Farm Bill Threatens To Be a Bigger Monster Than Ever
The massive piece of legislation embodies all that is wrong with American lawmaking.
The Government Is Turning Border Surveillance on Everyday Americans
As the government sets its sights on migrants crossing the border, native-born Americans have also come under its watchful eye.
Federal Courts Clash Over Financial Watchdog's Constitutionality
The CFPB funding scheme is constitutional, the 2nd Circuit says.
To Balance the Budget, Republicans Must Cut Military Spending, Trim Entitlements, or Raise Taxes
If Republicans refuse to gore their three sacred cows, a new CBO report shows that balancing the budget is literally impossible.
Congress Hasn't Passed a Budget on Time in 27 Years
Congress' end-of-year rush to fund the federal government has become the norm.
Biden's New Budget Would Hike Taxes and Wage Class Warfare
The higher taxes on small businesses and entrepreneurs could slow growth. Less opportunity means more tribalism and division.
Blame America's Air Traffic Control System for Your Flight Delay
In countries that privatized, there are fewer delays and costs are lower. But labor unions and the private plane lobby stand in the way.
Ron DeSantis' Immigration Playbook Is All About Big Government
Despite his declared commitment to freedom and fiscal conservatism, DeSantis' immigration policies represent a dramatic expansion of government power and spending.
Ridiculous Spending on Museums May Be Here To Stay
Handouts for tourist-trap museums will be part of the federal funding battleground in the next two years.
America Needs a Better Kind of Capitalism
Big corporations and entire industries constantly use their connections in Congress to get favors, no matter which party is in power.
Congress Should Not Give Any Government Agency Financial Free Rein
Lawmakers should proactively retake the power of the purse from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, regardless of how the Supreme Court rules.
