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30 Sep 2010 18:29

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Politics, U.S.: The GOP: Party of fiscal responsibility

  • If Democrats were smart, they’d plaster this graph on billboards in swing districts around the country. This calculation is based on an analysis by the Center for American Progress, which used estimates by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office as their starting point (methodology here). Economics whiz Ezra Klein adds, “the treatment of the GOP’s vague spending cuts is extremely generous.” Any Tea Partiers care to comment? source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 4 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

19 Aug 2010 11:09

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U.S.: The 2010 federal budget’s deficit projection: It’s down … slightly

  • $1.342
    trillion     the budget deficit projection of the Congressional Budget Office today
  • $1.368
    trillion     the projection of the CBO in back in March (like we said, slight) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Aug 2010 20:47

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U.S.: Furlough funday: 150,000 state workers in California are screwed

  • They’re caught in the middle of California’s never-ending budget fight. After a lengthy court battle as part of the seemingly-yearly budget deadlock that comes up in California, the California Supreme Court allowed governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to force a three-day-a-month furlough on state government employees. By the way, Schwarzenegger and the legislature have yet to decide on how to solve the state’s $19.1 billion budget deficit. Nice to see the people in the middle get screwed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jun 2010 22:05

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Biz, U.S.: Real reason we should fear 2012: Our growing national debt

  • $13 trillion in total debt; it could outpace GDP by 2012 source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 May 2010 11:11

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Politics: Hillary Clinton brilliantly flips national debt issue on its head

  • We cannot sustain this level of deficit financing and debt without losing our influence, without being constrained in the tough decisions we have to make … [it’s time to] make the national security case about reducing the deficit and getting the debt under control.
  • Secretary of State Hillary Clinton • Making an argument that the national debt could be handled better with a smaller U.S. military presence around the world. Her argument? The high level of national debt and deficit could be even more dangerous than having a weak military. Clinton is suggesting we work with other emerging countries to help lift the military burden off of the U.S. Will this work? Good question. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 May 2010 10:34

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U.S.: Museums forced to sell pricey items to keep the doors open

  • Some of the items are super-expensive. Many museums are finding that they need extra cash, so they’ve been selling some of their items. It comes with caveats, though: The American Association of Museums says they can only use the proceeds to acquire more items or directly care for the items they already have. Even so, though, it’s not stopping fire sales like these:
  • $3.2M the amount that Cleveland’s Western Reserve Historical Society has earned from selling collection items
  • $81k the amount that the Beloit, Wis. Historical Society made by selling a page of an Abe Lincoln State of the Union draft
  • $1M the amount an Oregon museum stands to make by selling a 1880s-era hotel; they’ve faced deep budget cuts source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

12 May 2010 21:14

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Biz, U.S.: The federal deficit blew the roof off of April’s record

  • 19 straight months of federal
    deficit increases source
  • » Why it’s alarming this time: It’s relatively rare for deficit increases to happen in the month of April, due to the fact that it’s tax season and lots of revenue is coming in. In fact, there’s been an April surplus 43 of the last 56 years. Even crazier, the increase this April was four times bigger than last April, from $20 billion to $83 billion. That’s also twice the Wall Street estimate of $40 billion.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 8 Comments • Permalink

13 Apr 2010 10:21

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U.S.: This year’s federal deficit could be less than expected

  • 8% decrease in the federal deficit
    so far this year source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2010 20:33

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Politics: Obama: Those Tea Party types have legitimate concerns

  • My hope is that as we move forward and we’re tackling things like the deficit, imposing a freeze on domestic spending, taking steps that show we are sincere about dealing with our long-term problems, that some of that group will dissipate.
  • President Barack Obama • Discussing, with great care, the Tea Party, which largely views him with disdain. While realizing some of them are on the fringe and tough to court, he does feel that he can win over some of the moderate members with firm economic policies. “I think that there’s a broader circle around that core group of people who are legitimately concerned about the deficit, who are legitimately concerned that the federal government may be taking on too much,” he said. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 9 Comments • Permalink
 
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