By Christopher Preble
A new report published today by the Project on Defense Alternatives argues for $17-$20 billion in immediate savings to the Fiscal Year 2013 defense budget. I co-authored the report along with Benjamin Friedman of Cato, and PDA’s Carl Conetta, Charles Knight, and Ethan Rosenkranz. Those savings come from 18 line items—personnel, weapons systems, and programs—that [...]
New Paper Argues for Immediate, Practical Cuts in Military Spending is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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Heritage recently released the 2012 Federal Budget in Pictures. It graphically illustrates the direction our country is headed under current policies. Join us on Friday May 4 from 12-1 ET for our “Lunch with Heritage” online chat. We will be joined by Heritage’s Alison Fraser and she will be taking your questions about the charts, the budget, the direction of the country, and how to change course. If you cannot make the chat leave a question in the comments and we will try and answer it for you. If you … More
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By Roger Pilon
In today’s Washington Post, the paper’s Dana Milbank treats us to “A faith-based lesson for Paul Ryan.” He takes Ryan to task for his Georgetown University speech last Thursday defending the House Republican budget. Earlier, it seems, Ryan had told the Christian Broadcasting Network that his budget was crafted “using my Catholic faith” as inspiration. [...]
Paul Ryan and His Catholic Critics is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Christopher Preble
As has become an annual tradition, my colleague Charles Zakaib has sifted through the data from the latest edition of the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ The Military Balance and created several illuminating charts. They are enclosed below and show U.S. security spending as a share of the global total, U.S. per capita spending as [...]
More Evidence that Uncle Sam Is Uncle Sucker (but U.S. Voters Aren’t) is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Tad DeHaven
Chris Edwards provided an ample overview of Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget proposal, so I won’t rehash the numbers. Instead, I’ll just add a few comments. Democrats and the left will squeal that Paul Ryan’s budget proposal is a massive threat to the poor, the sick, the elderly, etc, etc. It’s baloney, but a part [...]
Paul Ryan’s Budget: It’s Still Big Government is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Chris Edwards
House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) has introduced his annual budget blueprint. The plan will likely pass the House but won’t become law this year. However, the plan signals the direction that House Republicans want to go in budget battles with the Democrats this year, and it also shows the likely thrust of policy [...]
Paul Ryan’s Spending Plan is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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President Obama’s budget proposes a sharp increase in entitlement spending and more outlays for domestic programs and interest on the national debt. Defense spending, meanwhile, takes a backseat to Obama’s other priorities. The long-term outlook: Obama would make defense the lowest budget priority among the major categories of spending in the federal budget. “The combination of the budget request and the Budget Control Act of 2011 would reduce the military’s personnel levels and force structure to the point that they could no longer protect U.S. vital interests and keep U.S. … More
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By Daniel J. Mitchell
As discussed yesterday, the most important number in Obama’s budget is that the burden of government spending will be at least $2 trillion higher in 10 years if the President’s plan is enacted. But there are also some very unsightly warts in the revenue portion of the President’s budget. Americans for Tax Reform has a [...]
How Can Obama Look at these Two Charts and Conclude that America Should Have Higher Double Taxation of Dividends and Capital Gains? is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Daniel J. Mitchell
President Obama’s budget proposal was unveiled today, generating all sorts of conflicting statements from both parties. Some of the assertions wrongly focus on red ink rather than the size of government. Others rely on dishonest Washington budget math, which means spending increases magically become budget cuts simply because outlays are growing at a slower rate [...]
According to Obama’s Budget, Burden of Federal Spending Will Be $2 Trillion Higher in 10 Years is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Benjamin H. Friedman
The changes announced in the Pentagon’s new budget guidance are, from my perspective, mostly good news, but woefully insufficient. They show how even limited austerity encourages prioritization among weapons systems …
The New Pentagon Budget: Better, but Not Great is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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