The Ryan Plan: Budgeting for Big Business

The House Budget Committee approved last night Rep. Paul Ryan's budget resolution proposal. What would House Republicans' do given their way? Write big checks to big businesses, cut taxes for the rich, and cut off health care, nutrition, and housing assistance for the poor.

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Fight Over Policy Riders May Shut Down Government

The battle over a handful of conservative policy priorities has pushed the federal government to the precipice of a shut down.

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'Tax Freedom Day' Still a Sham

His tummy hurts because he's been binging on right-wing economic propaganda.

On Wednesday, the Tax Foundation released their estimate for this year's "Tax Freedom Day" (TFD). For those not familiar with the right-leaning organization's annual made-up holiday, it marks when, according to the Tax Foundation, Americans will have "earned enough money to pay this year's tax obligations at the federal, state, and local levels." As is always the case with TFD, it's an exceptionally simplistic and misleading way to look at taxes.

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Federal Spending Anxiety to Shut Off Spending Info Website

At a time when federal spending is the top concern of everyone in Washington, Congress is about to turn off the federal website that tells us where those federal funds are going.

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The Balanced Budget Amendment That Isn’t About Balancing the Budget

In a move hearkening back to the Clinton era, Senate Republicans introduced a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution earlier today. All 47 members of the caucus are cosponsoring the bill, a strong show of force. But here’s the thing: this balanced budget amendment isn’t about balancing the budget.

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FY '11 Savings Lost to Continuing Budget Fight

Although congressional combatants believe they are fighting a worthy budget battle, the collateral damage of not coming to agreement is accumulating. Robert Pear at the New York Times and Andy Sullivan at Reuters have reported two noteworthy pieces suggesting that when Congress finally gets its FY 2011 act together, the savings from whatever budget cuts result will significantly eroded by the waste that their dithering has caused.

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On Public Wages, Let's Hear from Business Leaders

A unionized public employee, a teabagger, and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table is a plate with a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, then looks at the teabagger and says, 'Watch out for that union guy – he wants a piece of your cookie!'

An interesting exchange occurred last week between a top government official and a group of corporate leaders attending the first meeting of President Obama's Management Advisory Board. According to Robert Brodsky of Government Executive, Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) John Berry appealed to the board to help set the record straight about "overpaid" public employees.

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Why Are We Only Talking about Spending Cuts?

All the GOP cares about is jobs, jobs, jobs!

With Congress poised to send President Obama another continuing resolution (CR) temporarily keeping the federal government open, Senate Democrats, in conjunction with the administration, have just three weeks to negotiate with House Republicans over a funding bill for the rest of fiscal year (FY) 2011. The negotiations will concentrate on spending cuts made by the Republican House, but they shouldn't.

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House CR Would Cut Nuclear Safety Funding

H.R. 1, the continuing resolution (CR) passed by the House in February that would cut some $61 billion from FY 2010 levels for the remainder of FY 2011 is no friend of nuclear safety. A rundown of the bill reveals the following cuts:

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CBO Monthly Budget Review, February 2011

Congressional Budget Office

The Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) Monthly Budget Review (MBR) for February is out and it has piqued deficit hawks around Washington. The thing is, though, February's MBR is just like all the rest of CBO's recent monthly budget reports: it reveals that the country spent a lot more money than it took in over the previous thirty-day period.

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