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15 Mar 2011 01:41

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Politics: Marco Rubio slams Congress for postponing budget debate again

  • I did not come to the U.S. Senate to be part of some absurd political theatre. I will no longer support short-term budget plans.
  • Sen. Marco Rubio • Letting off some steam about Congress’s refusal (or, perhaps more accurately, inability) to pass a long-term budget. The House and Senate will (likely, but not assuredly) pass another continuing resolution tomorrow in lieu of an actual budget. This one will fund the government for the next three weeks; after that, it’s either another continuing resolution, a budget for the full fiscal year, or a government shutdown. Let’s hope Congress can actually figure something out this time, and not just postpone the inevitable again. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Feb 2011 15:43

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Politics: Another day, another call to compromise from President Obama

  • I expect that all sides will have to do a little bit of posturing on television and speak to their constituencies, and rally the troops and so forth. But ultimately, what we need is a reasonable, responsible, and initially, probably, somewhat quiet and toned-down conversation about… ‘where can we compromise and get something done?’
  • President Barack Obama • Setting the stage for the looming budget kerfuffle breaking out in Washington, the President urged measured and bipartisan conversation with the ultimate goal of compromise. If this ends up looking anything like his previous calls for bipartisan rigor, though, you’re likely to see Republicans get a pretty generous compromise that liberals will be asked to stomach, followed by the Republicans insisting that President Obama is a far-left Spendocrat who didn’t really compromise on anything. Which, it bears mentioning, is infuriating to watch once, let alone over and over again. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Feb 2011 21:59

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Politics: No, we can’t eliminate the deficit by cutting foreign aid

  • If you want to cut the budget, you have to cut useful and necessary things…[Obama is] explaining to the public that the free-ride view of budget cutting — we can cut our way out of the deficit by eliminating waste and spending that only benefits foreigners — is wrong.
  • Jon Chait • Interpreting the message behind Obama’s budget. There’s a widespread perception, often repeated by politicians, that if we’d just cut earmarks, foreign aid, and general wasteful spending, we’d eliminate the deficit. But that just ain’t the case. The real culprits are Social Security, defense, and Medicare — programs we actually like. So if we’re serious about taking a bite out of the deficit, we’re gonna have to make some tough decisions. That, Chait says, is the point behind Obama’s proposal. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 1 Comment • Permalink

14 Feb 2011 11:27

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U.S.: By the numbers: Obama’s budget cut plans deep, but not too deep

  • $3.73
    trillion     the size of Obama’s latest budget plan, just released today
  • $1.1
    trillion     the amount Obama plans to cut from the deficit over the next decade
  • 2/3 the share of deficit cuts that would come from cutbacks in various federal programs
  • $7.2T the amount that would be added to the public debt – not the deficit – over the next decade
  • $4T the amount Obama’s own deficit commission wanted to cut over the next decade source
  • » Only one silo gets the cuts: Obama wants to effectively limit all non-security discretionary spending for the next five years, an area which only accounts for 12 percent of federal spending, at the cost of doing something about defense spending or programs like Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security – which, as popular as they are, account for huge chunks of the pie. The cuts are also much lower than what Republicans want, although they’re also hoping to avoid defense spending cuts, even though that’s a huge chunk.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Feb 2011 23:54

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U.S.: GOP budget plan: How 2% can save you $626 billion or more!

  • 15.4% GOP’s proposed cuts to non-defense spending for the rest of 2011
  • 2.2% GOP’s proposed cuts to defense spending, under the same plan source
  • » Here’s the interesting part: Despite those numbers, the cuts to defense spending actually net about $165 billion more in savings than the non-defense cuts. Why? Simple: We spend a crapload of money on defense. (Bonus chart with more information here.)
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Feb 2011 15:32

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U.S.: Gov. Rick Scott is not one to buck Republican orthodoxy

  • $5 billion in proposed budget cuts to Florida over the next two years
  • $4 billion in proposed tax cuts to Floridians over the next two years source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Oct 2010 13:51

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U.S.: Arnold, California legislature finally reach deal on budget

  • 3 months without a budget, but with a lot of tightrope, in California source
  • » Keeping it under wraps: Legislative officials plan to reveal the details of the plan later this week but are currently keeping it hush-hush. You guys have already had to wait since July 1 for a firm budget plan, so what’s a few more days? You bastards are so impatient.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

19 Sep 2010 10:35

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U.S.: In Missouri, judges can factor in a prison sentence’s price tag

  • Well, that’s one way to help shore up the budget. In Missouri, judges are now being given price tags for various types of sentences. And the main lesson to learn from this? Putting people in jail for a long time is way more expensive than simply giving them probation. No other state does it, and it’s created a bit of debate for the way that it seems to encourage weaker sentences. Our thought? If it means having safer streets, we’d rather have the added deficit. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2010 21:18

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U.S.: Did an appeals court support Ah-nold’s minimum wage scheme?

  • YES though the California state controller is fighting it source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 09:21

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U.S.: Obama’s ditching many of Bush’s most ambitious plans for NASA

  • We are proposing canceling the program, not delaying it.
  • Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag • Regarding the decision to scrap the new moon mission, Constellation, that NASA has been working towards since the Bush administration gave it the green light a few years ago. Instead, the money will go to building technology for an eventual mission to Mars. Why? The Constellation program needed an extra $3 billion a year to work. In other news, the Obama administration is pushing for commercial firms to develop space taxis to send crews between Earth and the International Space Station. All this adds up to a massive shake-up of the NASA program. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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