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.
President Obama recently unveiled his 2012 budget proposal and the 43 tax hikes it contains. The multitude of—utterly unnecessary—tax hikes will burden Americans to the tune of $1.5 trillion over the next decade. Read More of our work on Read More.
In his 2012 budget proposal, President Obama uses lofty rhetoric about fiscal realities and hard choices—and proceeds to give the green light to yet more spending, yet higher taxes, and skyrocketing debt. Read More of our work on Read More.
The Obama Administration has used the recession as an excuse for a historic and permanent expansion of government and deficits. Only during the height of World War II has Washington matched current levels of spending (25% of GDP) and deficits (10% of GDP). Read More.
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
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
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
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
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
From The Heritage Foundation, I'm Ernest Istook. … Read more
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
Abstract: The failure of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (“Super Committee”) to come to agreement on reducing the federal deficit raises the real prospect of a total of $1 trillion in … Read more
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
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
For more on government spending, read Brian Reidl's new paper "Why Government Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth" ------ … Read more
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… Read more
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… Read more
President George W. Bush has proposed terminating or strongly reducing the budgets of over 150 inefficient or ineffective programs. This is a step in the right direction to pare back the runaway spending that has pushed the budget deficit over $400 billion. In less than three years,… Read more
Abstract: Despite decades of repeated failure, President Obama and Congress continue to promote the myth that government can spend its way out of recession. Heritage Foundation economic policy expert Brian Riedl dispels the stimulus myth, lays out the evidence that government spending does not end recessions--and… Read more
Abstract: While layoffs increased during this recession, they are not the primary cause of the nearly 10 percent unemployment rate. The main factor driving the unemployment rate so high during this recession was, and continues to… Read more
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… Read more
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… Read more
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
As the “super committee,” created by the contentious Budget Control Act (BCA), grapples with its mandate to find $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction savings, many are urging it to “go big.” And no wonder. Since July 31, the eve of the BCA’s enactment, the federal government has continued to hemorrhage… Read more
Supporters of Ron Paul have re-launched an old ad promoting the old idea of American isolationism. “We now are a...… Read more
President Obama visited the Pentagon on Thursday to outline his plan for gutting our nation's military. Obama's vision...… Read more
New polling data reveals that voters in Iowa and New Hampshire overwhelmingly believe the federal budget deficit is the...… Read more
President Obama's economic stimulus was supposed to revive America's economy and put people back to work. But nearly...… Read more
Following the failure of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) criticized liberals...… Read more
The debt-limit deal this summer guaranteed a vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment this year. As the House and Senate...… Read more
Scribe has reported extensively on the tendency of large government spending projects to reward the politically...… Read more
Congressional passage of three free-trade agreements yesterday marked a rare victory for economic freedom in America....… Read more
House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) is a man on a mission. He's making the rounds on Capitol Hill to...… Read more
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) visited Heritage earlier this week for The Bloggers Briefing and stuck around to chat in our...… Read more
Director, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies
Policy Analyst