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
  • Issue Brief posted May 8, 2012 by Ryan T. Anderson The Budget and Religion: Principles for Informing Policy

    House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) is being criticized by the secular and religious left for comments he made about the role his Catholic faith played in crafting his budget. The most outrageous criticism is that it played any role at all. The reactions to…

  • Issue Brief posted May 7, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Why Budget “Reconciliation” Matters

    The spending reduction plan in the U.S. House of Representatives takes an important step toward fixing two huge budget and policy dilemmas facing Congress: the crude, across-the-board spending cuts mandated by last year’s debt ceiling agreement, and the unsustainable growth of entitlement spending, which threatens to overwhelm the budget and…

  • Backgrounder posted April 12, 2012 by Lindsey Burke, Rachel Sheffield Obama’s 2013 Education Budget and Blueprint: A Costly Expansion of Federal Control

    Abstract: President Obama’s FY 2013 budget request includes another major spending increase for the Department of Education—2.5 percent more than last year—to nearly $70 billion. American taxpayers are calling for spending restraint in Washington, yet President Obama’s proposals would exacerbate the existing bureaucratic maze…

  • Play Movie Alison Fraser on Budget Battles on FOX Video Recorded on April 9, 2012 Alison Fraser on Budget Battles on FOX

    Alison Fraser comments on the budget battles in Congress on FOX. …

  • Issue Brief posted March 28, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen RSC Budget Has Ambitious Targets, Needs More Policy Detail

    The Republican Study Committee (RSC) has once again pushed the outside of the fiscal envelope, presenting a budget that reaches balance in just five years—twice as fast as the group’s proposal a year ago—through entitlement reforms, deep spending reductions, and no tax increases. This aggressive plan incorporates many elements of…

  • Congressman Steve King on Obamacare and the Budget Audio Recorded on March 27, 2012 Congressman Steve King on Obamacare and the Budget

  • Backgrounder posted March 26, 2012 by J.D. Foster, Ph.D. The Obama Budget’s Hidden Medicare Spending

    Abstract: The President’s budget perpetuates a misleading portrayal of the true magnitude of federal spending. This is most clearly evident in the figures for Medicare spending, which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reports as $480 billion for 2011—$80 billion less than the…

  • Backgrounder posted March 23, 2012 by Jessica Zuckerman The 2013 Homeland Security Budget: Misplaced Priorities

    Abstract: In February 2012, President Obama issued his FY 2013 budget proposal. His $59 billion request for the Department of Homeland Security is slightly lower than the enacted level for FY 2012. The President is to be applauded for continuing strong financial investments in…

  • Issue Brief posted March 21, 2012 by Alison Acosta Fraser, Patrick Louis Knudsen The Ryan Budget: Confronting the Nation’s Spending Crisis

    In the few months since Washington’s dramatic debt ceiling confrontation, America’s fiscal situation has only worsened. Federal spending is set to soar past previous record-shattering levels, endangering the economic future of the nation. This is a moral issue because younger generations will be forced to bear either staggering levels of…

  • Commentary posted March 21, 2012 by Alison Acosta Fraser Senate's gift to Americans: See you. We're out of here.

    As the clock counts down toward Christmas, Congress still has major unfinished business to attend to. Not that we should be surprised. Emblematic of a resoundingly disappointing year, the last remaining issue to be resolved directly affects the pocketbooks of Americans. Just days from now, the payroll…

Find more work on Budget and Spending
Find more work on Budget and Spending
  • Issue Brief posted May 8, 2012 by Ryan T. Anderson The Budget and Religion: Principles for Informing Policy

    House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) is being criticized by the secular and religious left for comments he made about the role his Catholic faith played in crafting his budget. The most outrageous criticism is that it played any role at all. The reactions to…

  • Issue Brief posted May 7, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Why Budget “Reconciliation” Matters

    The spending reduction plan in the U.S. House of Representatives takes an important step toward fixing two huge budget and policy dilemmas facing Congress: the crude, across-the-board spending cuts mandated by last year’s debt ceiling agreement, and the unsustainable growth of entitlement spending, which threatens to overwhelm the budget and…

  • Backgrounder posted April 12, 2012 by Lindsey Burke, Rachel Sheffield Obama’s 2013 Education Budget and Blueprint: A Costly Expansion of Federal Control

    Abstract: President Obama’s FY 2013 budget request includes another major spending increase for the Department of Education—2.5 percent more than last year—to nearly $70 billion. American taxpayers are calling for spending restraint in Washington, yet President Obama’s proposals would exacerbate the existing bureaucratic maze…

  • Issue Brief posted March 28, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen RSC Budget Has Ambitious Targets, Needs More Policy Detail

    The Republican Study Committee (RSC) has once again pushed the outside of the fiscal envelope, presenting a budget that reaches balance in just five years—twice as fast as the group’s proposal a year ago—through entitlement reforms, deep spending reductions, and no tax increases. This aggressive plan incorporates many elements of…

  • Backgrounder posted March 26, 2012 by J.D. Foster, Ph.D. The Obama Budget’s Hidden Medicare Spending

    Abstract: The President’s budget perpetuates a misleading portrayal of the true magnitude of federal spending. This is most clearly evident in the figures for Medicare spending, which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reports as $480 billion for 2011—$80 billion less than the…

  • Backgrounder posted March 23, 2012 by Jessica Zuckerman The 2013 Homeland Security Budget: Misplaced Priorities

    Abstract: In February 2012, President Obama issued his FY 2013 budget proposal. His $59 billion request for the Department of Homeland Security is slightly lower than the enacted level for FY 2012. The President is to be applauded for continuing strong financial investments in…

  • Issue Brief posted March 21, 2012 by Alison Acosta Fraser, Patrick Louis Knudsen The Ryan Budget: Confronting the Nation’s Spending Crisis

    In the few months since Washington’s dramatic debt ceiling confrontation, America’s fiscal situation has only worsened. Federal spending is set to soar past previous record-shattering levels, endangering the economic future of the nation. This is a moral issue because younger generations will be forced to bear either staggering levels of…

  • Backgrounder posted March 19, 2012 by Curtis Dubay Obama FY 2013 Budget Violates Basic Principles of Tax Reform

    Abstract: The current tax code is an enormous burden on the economy, preventing it from reaching its full potential. Tax reform is long overdue. After initial reluctance, President Obama now agrees that the economy needs tax reform. He…

  • Issue Brief posted March 14, 2012 by David Addington Federal Budget: What Congress Must Do to Control Spending and Create Jobs

    As the national debt races toward $17 trillion and nearly 13 million Americans search fruitlessly for work, America needs bold changes from its leaders. Congress must get federal spending and borrowing under control and get out of the way of job creation in the private sector. …

  • Special Report posted March 7, 2012 by Derek Scissors, Ph.D., Kumi Yokoe, Ph.D. Japan's National Budget: Time to Give Up on Keynesianism

    Abstract: Japan’s “lost decade” has turned into two; and Japan is not alone. Staggering amounts of public debt and stagnant economies have become a problem from the EU to the U.S. Despite twenty years of evidence to the contrary, the belief persists that deficit…

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Find more work on Budget and Spending