As Congress considers options to halt a slide down the fiscal slope, it should look to the financial transactions tax (FTT). The FTT can raise large sums of revenue with small rates while tamping down on the excesses of an industry that most Americans feel hurts the economy more than it helps, according to a poll from the Pew Research Center. American lawmakers are wrestling with how to handle the expiration of the Bush tax cuts while closing the federal budget deficit, but finance ministers in the European Union (EU) who are also facing budget shortfalls have advanced the FTT closer to European law. 

On Monday evening (Nov. 21), the Super Committee formally announced that it was unable to reach an agreement for reducing the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion. While others are decrying the lack of agreement by the Super Committee and calling it a failure, we at OMB Watch believe that each of us should, instead, be relieved.

It's been 48 days since the Super Committee's last public meeting on Sept. 8 (and over a month passed between the Super Committee's second and third public hearings). For those of us who have been watching the Super Committee since day one, eagerly awaiting information on the specifics of its proposal for cutting $1.5 trillion dollars from the federal deficit, 48 days of radio silence not only has us on edge, it also has us questioning the Super Committee's commitment to transparency and the democratic process.

In the past week, the East Coast saw two natural disasters, both of which were thankfully much less destructive than they otherwise could've been. These disasters do, however, remind us that the federal government plays major roles in preparation, information dissemination, emergency response, and recovery aid for natural disasters and provide people with the assistance they need and expect when catastrophe strikes.