Executive Memorandum posted September 20, 2000 by Peter Sperry
Clinton's Budget Focus: More Spending, Not Debt Reduction
"We
should remember what got us to this dance was discipline, fiscal
discipline."
--President Bill Clinton, June 22,
2000
Now
that President Bill Clinton's veto pen has ended any hope of
meaningful tax reduction this year, Congress has two options for
what to do with the $268 billion surplus: Use it to reduce the
federal debt or spend it. It is clear that as…
Executive Memorandum posted April 6, 2000 by Peter Sperry
Time for the Senate to Unmask "Emergency" Spending
On March 30, the U.S. House of Representatives
passed a fiscal year (FY) 2000 supplemental appropriations bill
(H.R. 3908) to release an additional $12.7 billion in spending.
This supplemental spending bill contains appropriations that are
more than double the $5.5 billion requested by President Bill
Clinton. If Congress is committed to fiscal discipline, the…
Executive Memorandum posted May 27, 1999 by Peter Sperry
Time for the President to Honor His Budget Pledge
Two
years ago, President Bill Clinton eagerly embraced and pledged
himself to honor the Balanced Budget Agreement (BBA) of 1997, the
spending roadmap to achieve and maintain a budget surplus. The
President repeatedly took credit for the BBA, claiming in a summer
1997 speech to be "spending less and spending smart." He also
stated in a radio address that "Our…
Backgrounder posted April 23, 1999 by Peter Sperry
How to Avoid a Budget Train Wreck and Maintain the Spending Caps
Congress has produced a budget resolution
(H. Con. Res. 68) that appears to hold spending to levels outlined
in the 1997 Balanced Budget Agreement (BBA) while stabilizing
Social Security, providing Americans with modest tax cuts, and
increasing critical spending to maintain and preserve a strong
national defense. The resolution was produced in a timely fashion
after…
Executive Memorandum posted March 25, 1999 by Peter Sperry
A Budget Resolution on the Right Track
The
House and Senate Budget Committees have reported budget resolutions
which appear to hold to the spending levels outlined in the 1997
Balanced Budget Agreement (BBA) while "walling off" Social Security
revenues, providing Americans with modest tax cuts, and increasing
spending critical to maintaining and preserving a strong national
defense. Although Congress is…
Backgrounder posted March 5, 1999 by Peter Sperry, Gregg VanHelmond
Using Supplemental Spending Bills to Raid the Budget Surplus
It
is just five months into fiscal year (FY) 1999, and President Bill
Clinton already has presented Congress with three requests to
supplement or add to the spending agreed to for this year. The
President claims these requests, which total $1.36 billion,1
are needed to respond to unforeseen emergencies, such as the
devastation of Hurricane Mitch, expenses related to…