Budget Resolution:

• Modest Proposals -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office described the goals for the House budget resolution as follows: "We want to talk about responsible fiscal spending that is going to provide health care, education and job training... Our budget is going to balance by 2012, it is going to adhere to PAYGO and restore fiscal responsibility"... Democrats are expected to add $25-35 billion to Bush's topline for domestic programs.

Getting Bush's veto-threats out early, OMB Director Nussle promises Bush will veto...well pretty much anything that wasn't written by the president.

Testifying before the Joint Economic Committee on Thursday, Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz said that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost more than $3 trillion. Stiglitz's testimony is based on research that was released as a book, The Three Trillion Dollar War, on Friday. Coauthored with Harvard University professor Linda Bilmes, the book estimates that when interest expenses on the deficit spending used to finance the war and other costs, like health care benefits for wounded veterans, are calculated, the wars' costs could range from $5 to $7 trillion. McClatchy:

A new report out from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities last Friday explores the use of economic stimulus packages (i.e. tax cuts) at the state level, which have been proposed in seven states. CBPP concludes tax cuts are not an effective economic stimulus at the state level, and may in fact hurt state economies. From the report: Policymakers in many states are proposing tax cuts or rebates that they hope will "stimulate" their state economies, often citing the federal stimulus bill as both a model and a reason to support such a plan. Leaders have issued such proposals in Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, among others. But state tax cuts would do little or nothing to boost a state's economy. In fact, they reflect a misunderstanding of how state governments can best respond to a recession. The report outlines six recommendations for actions states can take to boost their economies. CBPP: FISCAL STIMULUS AT THE STATE LEVEL