Congress has passed a budget for the rest of the year that keeps the sequestration in place. Now all we need is a rise in the debt ceiling and FY2013′s budget is finished.
Obviously, I’d like some entitlement reform. But moving toward an actual budget process is a first step toward sane fiscal policy. Flat spending trends will bring the deficit at least under $1 trillion for the first time since Obama and possibly much … Read more
Earlier this week, Alex posted on the first Senate budget in four years. I have little to add to his criticism. The Democrats claim it continues the good work of the last two years — you know, the flat spending that they have continually claimed is going to ruin the economy and that their budget undoes. Remember that last point: our economy is supposed to be falling into ruin right now because of the … Read more
A few notes on the budget sequester that is schedule to happen tonight.
First, it’s going to happen. We may, eventually, get something else to replace it. But it has been obvious to me for two weeks now that the sequester is going to happen. The writing on the wall was when Congress went on vacation and the politicos spent time blaming each other rather than talking about solutions.
The reason it’s going to happen … Read more
Here’s the thing that struck me as I read Obama’s State of the Union address: very little of this is going to happen. There is no way he will get even 10% of his agenda through a Republican House. Most of it would not even go through a Democratic House. This read less like a SOTU speech and more like a rally for liberals.
That would be fine except that … there are some things … Read more
Jon Stewart responds to Paul Krugman’s criticism:
I think this exchange perfectly illustrates the debate over the Magic Coin Trick. Krugman wanted to get into nuance and detail and talk about this like it was a classroom exercise without real world consequences. But the value of money is entirely arbitrary, determined … Read more
Well, this is interesting news:
California has been Exhibit A for the fiscal upheaval that has rocked states throughout the recession. Year after year, California officials reported bigger and bigger deficits and sought to respond with spending cuts that left the state reeling.
“The deficit is gone,” Mr. Brown proclaimed, standing in front of an array of that-was-then and this-is-now charts that illustrated what he said were dramatic changes in California’s fortunes.
“For the next
I won’t waste much time on this. A new alternative has been proposed to the $1 trillion coin that is, if anything sillier. It’s that the government should just issue IOU’s. Seriously:
Congressional Republicans have said they will demand immense cuts to popular government programs in exchange for agreeing to raise the nation’s authorized borrowing limit of $16.4 trillion.
Stop right there. I highlighted this sentence in just to show you the author’s delusions. … Read more
Ugh. Do I have to write about this again? Apparently.
Let’s be clear. Hitting the debt ceiling is a seriously stupid idea. The debt ceiling was never intended to be a debt control measure. It does not, in fact, limit the amount of debt we can run up, only the amount we can pay to creditors for things we’ve already authorized. Here’s Ezra Klein on what will happen if we crash the debt ceiling.
The
As Thrill noted, the so-called fiscal cliff was semi-averted last night. I didn’t pay too close attention to the debate since the basics of the deal had been hashed out days before. All we had last night was political theater. It’s true that 2/3 of the Republican House voted against it. But they allowed it to come to a vote and most voted after they were sure it would pass as an ass-covering maneuver. I’m … Read more
It would seem that the Left is preparing to move on from the Koch Brothers as their bette noire. Their rage seems to have found a new target: Grover Norquist. Norquist, as you know, is the man behind the pledge that most Republicans have signed promising not to raise taxes. Many see this an impediment to a Grand Bargain.
It’s fine to see his pledge as a problem. What’s not fine is how … Read more
