Budget | AEIdeas

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Patrol, hold, hope: Delaying disaster with hegemony on the cheap

Tom Donnelly, Mackenzie Eaglen, and Phillip Lohaus | May 29, 2013, 9:26 am

After submitting a budget to Congress that ignores sequestration, newly-minted Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel launched an internal Pentagon review to belatedly plan for the cuts called for under the Budget Control Act (BCA). According to a recent Defense News … read more >

Economics, Taxes and Spending

The only hope for states and localities to get their budgets under control (hint: it’s not more laws)

Abby McCloskey | May 10, 2013, 11:32 am

Actions speak louder than words. And yet words are the favorite fiscal tool of many a state and local policymaker. My colleague Benjamin Zycher released a new paper this week examining state limitations on taxes and expenditures (TELs) for 49 … read more >

Pethokoukis, Economics, Taxes and Spending

Whoa! Is the US on the verge of running a budget surplus?

James Pethokoukis | May 8, 2013, 9:44 am

The US government ran a surplus of $112 billion in April 2013, according to the Congressional Budget Office, $52 billion more than a year ago. Now, April is usually a good month for the treasury thanks to income tax payments. Still, the … read more >

Economics, Taxes and Spending

John Makin dissects President Obama’s budget

Sofiya Mahdi | April 15, 2013, 4:40 pm

President Obama formally released his budget proposal for the fiscal year 2014 on Wednesday. AEI Resident Scholar John H. Makin spoke to AEIdeas about the budget’s feasibility, its controversial elements, and whether it’s a successful plan to tackle the deficit … read more >

Economics, Taxes and Spending, U.S. Economy

President Obama’s budget: Dread on arrival

John Makin | April 10, 2013, 3:04 pm

For those hoping to avoid another debt ceiling fiasco like that witnessed in the summer of 2011, the president’s new budget is dread on arrival. It virtually guarantees a total impasse on budget negotiations that will end in a debt … read more >

Image Credit: The U.S. Army (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Foreign and Defense Policy, Defense

Obama’s defense budget ignores the law and reality; increases uncertainty

Mackenzie Eaglen | April 10, 2013, 1:00 pm

President Obama’s newest defense budget request for 2014 reminds Washington that these documents are more than a set of numbers. They are also political statements of priorities. But Obama’s budget request is the latest in a series that stands virtually … read more >

Credit: White House Office of Management and Budget

Pethokoukis, Economics, Taxes and Spending

White House: We’ll balance the federal budget … in 2055!

James Pethokoukis | April 10, 2013, 12:01 pm

Republicans have mocked the Obama White House for talking about a “balanced approach” to debt reduction that doesn’t actually ever balance the budget. But in its 2014 budget report, Team Obama tries to create the impression that its plan does … read more >

Carpe Diem

Visualizing the 2013 US federal budget

Mark J. Perry | March 27, 2013, 2:39 pm

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Pethokoukis, Economics, Taxes and Spending

Is the Senate Democrat budget more realistic than the House GOP budget?

James Pethokoukis | March 25, 2013, 11:47 am

The House GOP-Paul Ryan budget would spend 19.5% of GDP over the next decade, matching the post-WWII, pre-Obama average. The Senate Democrat-Patty Murray budget would more or less keep spending at the elevated levels seen since the 2008 election, “averaging … read more >