SaddleBrooke Republican Club » Budget

Morning Bell: Budget? Why Follow A Budget?

Mike Brownfield — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:57:11 +0000

Families and businesses have budgets, yet Washington doesn’t — and it hasn’t for the last three years. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) doesn’t think this major omission is that big of a deal, and the White House has no opinion on the matter. Fortunately, there are leaders in the House who see the importance of passing a budget and getting runaway spending and escalating debt under control. For Congress, the budget is an outline of how and where money will be spent across the federal government and how high … More

Cochrane on ObamaCare’s Contraceptive-Coverage Mandate

Michael F. Cannon — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:23:26 +0000

By Michael F. Cannon

My Cato colleague John Cochrane – who is way smarter than I am — has a generally excellent op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal on ObamaCare’s contraception mandate: Salting mandated health insurance with birth control is exactly the same as a tax—on employers, on Catholics, on gay men and women, on couples trying to have children and [...]

Cochrane on ObamaCare’s Contraceptive-Coverage Mandate is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Ryan House Budget Committee Leads on Process Reforms

Romina Boccia — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:09:55 +0000

With debt and spending out of control, the good news is that the House Budget Committee is taking important steps toward focusing Congress on its most basic duty: budgeting. By speedily passing several budget process reform bills, Chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) and others on his committee are moving Congress in the right direction—toward controlling spending and increasing accountability and transparency in the federal budget process. The fundamental problem with the Senate’s refusal to pass a budget for more than 1,000 days is a lack of fiscal discipline, which results in … More

In the U.N. Budget, Personnel Costs Rule

Brett Schaefer — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:45:33 +0000

Earlier this year, the Obama Administration trumpeted the recently passed United Nations regular budget as a triumph of fiscal discipline. To some degree, it is justified in that claim. The initial appropriations for the 2012–2013 budget (at $5.15 billion) are $263 million lower than the final expenditures for the 2010–2011 budget, and nearly $44 million lower than the 2012–2013 budget originally proposed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. This is only the third time since 1960 that the initial U.N. regular budget appropriation was lower than the final appropriation for the previous … More

Federal Spending on Health Care Doubles in the Next Decade

Alyene Senger — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:18:05 +0000

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Budget and Economic Outlook for years 2012 to 2022 yesterday, and as Heritage’s Patrick Knudsen shows, the numbers add up to a dismal fiscal future. As the government continues its fiscal irresponsibility, 2012 will be the fourth straight year of trillion-dollar deficits. This trend is on track to continue as a result of increasing federal spending on health care, which will more than double between 2012 and 2022. The CBO estimates that by 2022, the government will spend $1.8 trillion on health care, … More

Budget Outlook Getting Worse, CBO Report Shows

Patrick Louis Knudsen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:07:13 +0000

The figures released today by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) once again reflect the magnitude of the federal government’s fiscal problem and the urgent need for Congress and the President to address it. Some key points: The 2012 deficit, projected at $1.079 trillion, represents the fourth consecutive year of deficits exceeding $1 trillion. Debt held by the public today is $11.2 trillion, or 72.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)—nearly three-fourths of total economic output. This year’s $3.6 trillion in spending is 23.2 percent of GDP—nearly one-fourth the size of … More

Obama Administration Cannot Continue to “Hollow Out the Force”

Brian Slattery — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:30:27 +0000

In discussing the Department of Defense’s upcoming budget request, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stated “our approach was to use this as an opportunity to maintain the strongest military in the world, to not hollow out the force.” In reality, America’s enemies will quickly determine that the United States will not be able to cover its responsibilities worldwide. The Secretary’s projections, which account for only preexisting Obama Administration cuts, include a reduction of Army ground forces from 562,000 to 490,000 troops—despite the fact that U.S. military readiness is already in a … More

Morning Bell: A Slashed and Burned Military

Mike Brownfield — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:35:28 +0000

The future is not bright for the U.S. military. Yesterday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gave America a glimpse of the half-trillion dollars in defense spending cuts requested by the Obama Administration and detailed how the U.S. military’s capabilities would be affected in practical terms. The result is a slashed and burned military that woefully lacks the forces it needs to meet America’s security challenges on a global scale. On the ground, in the sea, and in the air, American forces will shrink drastically — the Army will shrink by 72,000 … More

Mr. President: “We Can’t Wait” for the FY 2013 Budget

Emily Goff — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:00:43 +0000

President Obama will release his annual budget proposal late yet again. Choosing the date is not merely a convention. By law, the President must release the budget by the first Monday in February, which falls on February 6 this year. Yet yesterday the Administration announced it will release its fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget a week late, marking the third such delay in four years. Right now, when the economy is struggling, annual deficits consistently exceed $1 trillion, and Americans are demanding that Washington govern responsibly, this delay is beyond … More

Stop the Madness: National Debt Threatens our Prosperity

Rep. Doug Lamborn — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:42:08 +0000

I propose this simple New Year’s resolution for Congress, pass a budget before borrowing any more money. Today marks the 1,000th day without a budget from Senate Democrats. The last time they passed a budget, you had never heard of the iPad. Tiger Woods was only known for his golfing abilities. General Motors had never declared bankruptcy. You had never heard of Swine flu. Despite the lack of a spending plan, or perhaps because of that, Washington’s borrowing and spending continues out of control. The president recently asked Congress for … More