Mid-session Review Presents Misleading View of Nation's Finances

The White House's Office of Management and Budget recently (and belatedly) released its annual budgetary "Mid-Session Review," which attempts to put a positive spin on massive and worsening deficits, as well as the lowest level of revenue in nearly a half century.

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National Debt Limit Countdown

On August 2, Treasury Secretary John Snow urged Congress to raise the federal debt limit without delay, and warned that the limit will be reached by late September or early October.

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Mid-Session Review Confirms Continuation of Record Deficits

Washington, D.C., July 30, 2004 - The White House's Office of Management and Budget today belatedly released its annual budgetary "Mid-Session Review," which attempts to put a positive spin on massive and worsening deficits and the lowest level of revenue in a half century. Download full press release (.pdf)

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OMB Fails to Meet Another Deadline

The Office of Management and Budget is required to produce a "Mid-Session Review" by July 15 of each year. However, the mid-session budget review has still not been issued.

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Economy and Jobs Watch: Major Cuts to Domestic Services are on the Horizon

The White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has instructed government agencies to plan for cuts to a wide range of domestic programs. In a memo dated May 19, 2004, (download pdf), the White House told agencies to prepare their budgets for fiscal year (FY) 2006 consistent with the FY 2005 budget proposal -- specifically, to "[a]ssume accounts are funded at the 2006 level specified in the 2005 Budget database." The database refers to the

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Office of Management and Budget May Be the Only Government Programs' Evaluator

First, GPRA, then PART, and now PAR - government performance measures continue to multiply. More alarming is their morphing from bipartisan efforts that had a role for both the executive and legislative branches; to performance measures dictated by the executive branch in order to control spending to support political objectives.

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OMB Watch Makes Available Detailed Budget Data

Over the past two weeks, OMB Watch has posted detailed breakdowns of budgetary data.

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CBO Account-level Data on Government Spending, 2005-2014

The 2005 Budget submitted by the president last week contained only partial information for spending over the next 5 years. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has since developed estimates of costs contained in the president's FY2005 budget covering the period from 2005 to 2014.

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