Budget and Spending

Federal spending has grown rapidly over the last decade, leading to substantial budget deficits that will cripple the economy. To restore fiscal health, the federal government should reduce taxes, cut wasteful spending, and reform the massive entitlements.

HIGHLIGHTS

Our Research & Offerings on Budget and Spending
  • WebMemo posted February 9, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen President Obama’s Budget: What to Watch For

    The President’s post-debt-ceiling, election-year budget will provide a good test of whether he is serious about facing up to the country’s looming fiscal crisis and driving spending down. At this critical moment for the nation’s fiscal and economic health, he should seize the opportunity to change the course of fiscal… Read more

  • WebMemo posted February 8, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen FY 2012 Spending Blows Through Cap, CBO Shows

    As House appropriators begin hearings on fiscal year (FY) 2013 spending,[1] a second look at last week’s Congressional Budget Office report shows they already have exceeded their official Budget Control Act limits for the current year by a stunning $156 billion. Although some of this overrun reflects justifiable… Read more

  • WebMemo posted February 2, 2012 by Alison Acosta Fraser Will Transportation Reauthorization Be Another Big Spending Boondoggle?

    As Congress gears up for another year, reining in spending and debt should top the agenda, but one issue heading squarely against that priority is reauthorization of the transportation program. The last transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU, was marked by gluttonous excesses, which ranged from its porcine spending increases and wasteful spending… Read more

  • WebMemo posted February 1, 2012 by J.D. Foster, Ph.D. CBO Baseline: A Few Quirks Do Not Distract from a Dismal Picture

    The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its baseline budget outlook through fiscal year 2022 on January 31. The analysis is as creditable to the CBO as its message is daunting to the nation. After squandering three years in which the signal consequences have been persistent high unemployment coupled with an… Read more

  • Factsheet on January 31, 2012 Obama's New Defense Guidance

    Misguided Assumptions CLAIM: Just Taking Another Peace Dividend: The U.S. dramatically reduced defense spending after the Cold War. Since then, the military has been living… Read more

  • Play Movie 1,000 Days Without A Budget Video Recorded on January 24, 2012 1,000 Days Without A Budget

    Today marks the 1,000th day since the United States Senate has passed a budget. While the House has put forth (and passed) its own budget, the Senate has failed to do the same. To help illustrate how extraordinary this failure has been, our new video highlights a few of impressive… Read more

  • WebMemo posted January 24, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Spending Goals for Congress and the President

    After a year of unproductive brinksmanship, Congress and the President enter 2012 facing the same intractable budget problems as before: a fourth consecutive deficit expected to be $1 trillion or higher, spending that consumes nearly one-fourth of the economy’s total output, and an entitlement-driven fiscal disaster that has drawn… Read more

  • WebMemo posted December 21, 2011 by Baker Spring An Unacceptable Squeeze on Defense Modernization

    Following the enactment of the Budget Control Act earlier this year, the budget for the core defense program is already operating under stringent spending caps. At the same time, per capita expenditures for paying military personnel and operating the force are high and growing rapidly. Under these circumstances, funding for… Read more

  • Play Movie Lachlan Markay on Defense Spending on Bio-Fuels on FBN Video Recorded on December 13, 2011 Lachlan Markay on Defense Spending on Bio-Fuels on FBN

    Lachlan Markay discusses defense spending on bio-fuels. … Read more

  • WebMemo posted December 8, 2011 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Chairman Ryan’s Proposals for Fixing the Budget Process

    To say “the budget process is broken,” as many Members of Congress like to complain, is a little misleading. The regular order of the budget process has not been employed for the past several years[1]—and mostly because of Congress’s inability or unwillingness to use it. But if not… Read more

Find more work on Budget and Spending
Find more work on Budget and Spending
  • WebMemo posted February 9, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen President Obama’s Budget: What to Watch For

    The President’s post-debt-ceiling, election-year budget will provide a good test of whether he is serious about facing up to the country’s looming fiscal crisis and driving spending down. At this critical moment for the nation’s fiscal and economic health, he should seize the opportunity to change the course of fiscal… Read more

  • WebMemo posted February 8, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen FY 2012 Spending Blows Through Cap, CBO Shows

    As House appropriators begin hearings on fiscal year (FY) 2013 spending,[1] a second look at last week’s Congressional Budget Office report shows they already have exceeded their official Budget Control Act limits for the current year by a stunning $156 billion. Although some of this overrun reflects justifiable… Read more

  • WebMemo posted February 2, 2012 by Alison Acosta Fraser Will Transportation Reauthorization Be Another Big Spending Boondoggle?

    As Congress gears up for another year, reining in spending and debt should top the agenda, but one issue heading squarely against that priority is reauthorization of the transportation program. The last transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU, was marked by gluttonous excesses, which ranged from its porcine spending increases and wasteful spending… Read more

  • WebMemo posted February 1, 2012 by J.D. Foster, Ph.D. CBO Baseline: A Few Quirks Do Not Distract from a Dismal Picture

    The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its baseline budget outlook through fiscal year 2022 on January 31. The analysis is as creditable to the CBO as its message is daunting to the nation. After squandering three years in which the signal consequences have been persistent high unemployment coupled with an… Read more

  • WebMemo posted January 24, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Spending Goals for Congress and the President

    After a year of unproductive brinksmanship, Congress and the President enter 2012 facing the same intractable budget problems as before: a fourth consecutive deficit expected to be $1 trillion or higher, spending that consumes nearly one-fourth of the economy’s total output, and an entitlement-driven fiscal disaster that has drawn… Read more

  • WebMemo posted December 21, 2011 by Baker Spring An Unacceptable Squeeze on Defense Modernization

    Following the enactment of the Budget Control Act earlier this year, the budget for the core defense program is already operating under stringent spending caps. At the same time, per capita expenditures for paying military personnel and operating the force are high and growing rapidly. Under these circumstances, funding for… Read more

  • WebMemo posted December 8, 2011 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Chairman Ryan’s Proposals for Fixing the Budget Process

    To say “the budget process is broken,” as many Members of Congress like to complain, is a little misleading. The regular order of the budget process has not been employed for the past several years[1]—and mostly because of Congress’s inability or unwillingness to use it. But if not… Read more

  • WebMemo posted December 6, 2011 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Appropriations Endgame: One Last Shot at Fiscal Credibility

    With the collapse of the deficit reduction “super committee,” a year that began with promise is degenerating into another late-December budgetary scramble on Capitol Hill. Along with certain necessary decisions by Congress on tax policies, unemployment insurance, and the “doc fix,” nine of the 12 annual spending bills are still… Read more

  • Backgrounder posted December 5, 2011 by Mackenzie Eaglen, Diem Nguyen Super Committee Failure and Sequestration Put at Risk Ever More Military Plans and Programs

    Abstract: The Budget Control Act, which ended the impasse over the debt ceiling and created a Super Committee to identify more deficit reduction proposals, cuts the defense budget by $1 trillion and paves the way for further reductions next year. These cuts come on top of successive rounds of deep… Read more

  • Backgrounder posted November 30, 2011 by Kathryn Nix Government Price Controls for Health Care: A Deficit-Reduction Strategy to Avoid

    Abstract: The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction—the “Super Committee”—created under the Budget Control Act of 2011 has failed to recommend a strategy for reducing the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next decade, leaving automatic cuts of 2 percent on… Read more

Find more work on Budget and Spending
Find more work on Budget and Spending