Senate to Begin Appropriations Process Week of June 17

The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to begin consideration of annual appropriations bills starting the week of June 17, according to The Hill.

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Center for American Progress Report Challenges Austerity

The Center for American Progress (CAP), an organization that is generally supportive of Obama administration policies, has decided to part ways with the administration on the need for continued deficit reduction. In a new report, "It's Time to Hit the Rest Button on the Fiscal Debate," the organization argues that it is time to shift from deficit reduction to growing the U.S. economy.

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Boehner Charges Obama With Threatening Government Shutdown

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) accused President Obama of threatening a government shutdown on June 6. The charge came after the administration issued veto threats against two spending bills that are consistent with a broader House GOP effort to shift further budget cuts from defense spending to domestic programs.

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White House Threatens to Veto GOP Spending Bills

The White House has issued veto threats against two pending House spending bills, one funding the Department of Homeland Security (H.R. 2217) and another funding military construction and veterans affairs (H.R. 2216).

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To Avoid More Bridges Collapsing, We Need More Infrastructure Investment

The Interstate 5 (I-5) highway bridge collapse—which sent cars and people into the Skagit River without any fatalities—near Mount Vernon in Washington State should be a stark reminder that we urgently need to expand investments into repairing and upgrading our nation’s infrastructure.

The need is immense.

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Why Non-Defense Discretionary Spending Keeps Getting Cut

The biggest difference among the three budget plans that official Washington is currently considering is spending for non-defense discretionary programs, which includes education, infrastructure, food safety, environmental protection and other essential public investments the public says it wants government to continue to make. A chart created by the Congressional Budget Office – shows the differences between President Obama and Senate Democrats’ budget plans versus the House Republican spending blueprint.

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The Lack of Jobs Is the Problem, Not Deficits

Budget deficits are shrinking at a breakneck pace now and will continue to do so over the next several years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which released its latest projections on the budget and the economy on May 14. Meanwhile, we have anemic jobs growth that’s worse than it should be, in large part because of all the extreme deficit reduction measures we’ve seen over the last few years.

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New Bowles-Simpson Deficit Plan Emphasizes Spending Cuts

Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, co-chairs of a presidentially appointed bipartisan commission that failed to reach agreement on a deficit reduction plan in 2010, released a new plan on Feb. 19 to reduce the federal deficit by an additional $2.4 trillion over the next ten years.  Most of the proposed new deficit reduction is achieved through spending cuts.

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Democrats Release Plans to Prevent Sequestration

On Feb. 14, congressional Democrats unveiled legislation that would cancel across-the-board spending cuts, called sequestration, which are currently scheduled to begin on March 1. The two bills include $120 billion in alternative spending cuts and revenue increases to offset the cost of canceling sequestration.

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Latest Economic Report Highlights Dangers of Further Austerity

The latest official estimate of U.S. economic growth, released Jan. 30 by the U.S. Department of Commerce, has provided further proof that budgetary austerity in the midst of a weak economic recovery makes little sense. Despite this, with Congress still considering further budget cuts and across-the-board cuts (called sequestration) scheduled to begin on March 1, there is little evidence that federal policymakers are aware of how much damage they may be doing to the economy.

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