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.
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The Heritage Foundation offers a detailed plan to redesign entitlement programs, guarantee assistance to those who need it, and save the American dream for future generations. Read More.
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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…
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…
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…
Alison Fraser comments on the budget battles in Congress on FOX. …
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…
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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…
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…
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…
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…
For more on government spending, read Brian Reidl's new paper "Why Government Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth" ------ …
The 2010 edition of “Federal Spending by the Numbers” shows spending and deficits continuing to grow at a pace not seen since World War II. Washington will spend $30,543 per household in 2010—$5,000 per household more than just two years ago. While some of this spending is a temporary…
Welfare Reform’s Recent History Franklin Delano Roosevelt: In 1935, President Roosevelt (D) said: “Continued…
As is apparent from President Obama’s declining approval ratings, the majority of Americans have lost confidence in the ability of Washington’s leadership to get the economy moving again. More to the point, many now recognize that the $814 billion in spending authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)…
Abstract: Since 1996, Congress after Congress has voted to lighten the tax burden on Americans. The current Congress will decide this fall whether to continue this policy or to significantly raise personal income taxes. President Obama has advanced a plan that reverses the long-standing…
Testimony Before the Committee on Finance United States Senate Chairman Baucus, Ranking Member Hatch,…
Abstract: Despite Administration claims to the contrary, President Barack Obama’s budget proposal for FY 2013 would reduce national defense to the lowest of the major budget priorities of the federal government. The combination of the budget request and the Budget Control Act of 2011 would reduce the military’s personnel levels…
Abstract: The number of Americans who pay taxes continues to shrink—and the United States is close to the point at which half of the population will not pay taxes for government benefits…
Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, co-chairs for the President’s bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, released a co-chairs’ report today. Since it is a preliminary report from the chairs, it should be viewed as a model for discussion and seeding ideas for the final commission report. As such,…
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…
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. …
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…
America's flying fortress, the Cold War-era B-52 bomber, has been in service for the last 50 years, running missions...…
Yesterday in the Senate, America bore witness to the glaringly obvious division in Washington, as stark as the contrast...…
“Provide for common defense” is a core constitutional obligation of the federal government. Yet entitlement spending is...…
Fellow Americans: It has been over three years (1,111 days to be precise) since the U.S. Senate last passed a budget....…
It's one thing to talk a good game about cutting spending, but it's quite another thing to actually do something about...…
Last night, President Obama visited Afghanistan and stood on the shoulders of the U.S. military to trumpet his foreign...…
It's pretty clear to most Americans that Washington is broken and spending money well beyond the country's means. In...…
President Obama has called Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget “an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country,” but as this...…
April 29 marks the third year that the U.S. Senate has not passed a budget. Now more than ever, it is crucial that...…
April 29 marks the third year in which the U.S. Senate has not passed a budget -- a staggering dereliction of duty,...…
Director, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies
Grover M. Hermann Senior Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs