The debt ceiling – the limit the Congress puts on the national debt - has grown to alarming levels in recent years. Today’s national debt – at $14.3 trillion - threatens to cripple the economy if it is not brought under control. Congress must urgently pursue the path that drives down federal spending and borrowing and gets to a balanced budget without raising taxes, while preserving our ability to protect America.
Desperate for a “balanced” approach to resolving the debt ceiling impasse, President Obama glommed on to the Gang of Six’s plan before the ink was dry. Read More.
Any Senator foolish enough to think the McConnell-Reid “Just Borrow More” Plan solves the debt ceiling problem should look again at what the Moody’s debt rating service said. Read More.
For all of the latest blogs and Heritage’s rapid reaction on the Debt Ceiling debate Read More.
Heritage’s “Saving the American Dream” lays out bold policy recommendations in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and taxes to balance the budget and reverse the buildup of debt. Read More.
See the web’s best visual presentation of federal spending, taxes, debt, and entitlements. Read More.
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…
Abstract: The President’s 2013 budget, released on February 13, repeats the stale and unsuccessful policies of the past three years. The Administration’s apparent vision is one of bigger government, more spending, higher taxes, and deeper deficits. At a time when runaway spending and swelling…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Revised and Updated on January 12, 2012 Download a PDF version with hyperlinks to House and Senate Appropriations Committee documents: Appropriations Tracker: FY 2012 Designed to inform American policymakers and citizens, the…
From The Heritage Foundation, I'm Ernest Istook. …
Late on Friday, August 5, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the United States credit rating from AAA, and really best in class, to AA+. In one fell swoop, S&P sent two separate and powerful messages. First, as The Heritage Foundation and many others warned, the spending reductions in the deal…
Abstract: Attempts at passing a balanced budget amendment (BBA) date back to the 1930s, and all have been unsuccessful. Both parties carry some of the blame: The GOP too often has been neglectful of the issue, and the Democratic Left, recognizing a threat to…
The deep cuts in defense spending envisioned in the just-announced debt ceiling deal[1] raise a fundamental question for Americans: Will we let a deal stand that promises to end American security as we know it? Or will Americans demand that the deal, born of crisis-driven politics in…
So important is the power to borrow money that it was one of the few real powers expressly delegated to the weak and ineffectual government created under the Articles of Confederation. In drafting the Constitution, the Framers recognized the importance of empowering the government…
Remember last year’s titanic struggle over increasing the debt ceiling? A mighty contest that threatened to leave the...…
House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) is a man on a mission. He's making the rounds on Capitol Hill to...…
Congressional leaders led a national debate in July 2011 about the problems of federal overspending and...…
President Barack Obama made two fundamental mistakes today in his press conference which was intended to calm the...…
There is considerable misunderstanding about what the new debt ceiling law does to the area of defense. Many people are...…
As soon as the U.S. Treasury was cleared to start borrowing again, it quickly borrowed $238 billion more and reached a...…
The debt ceiling deal that was passed by the House and Senate contained very dangerous cuts to the military. They...…
The congressional enactment of the Budget Control Act to increase the national debt limit was mostly a triumph of...…
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. A Dangerous...…
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced yesterday that the Budget Control Act of 2011 would lead to $2.1...…
Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief Operating Officer
Distinguished Fellow and Director, Center for Policy Innovation
Director, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies
Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy