Budget

How Congress Got So Broken

By Yuval Rosenberg

More than 50 House members chose not to seek re-election in 2018, and a new report from nonprofit groups Issue One and the R Street Institute examines what drove so many to that decision. The report...
Larry Kudlow Still Insists Tax Cuts Will Pay for Themselves, Deficits Will Fall 'a Lot'

By Yuval Rosenberg

Isn’t it time to admit that the tax cuts are not going to pay for themselves? Larry Kudlow, the director of President Trump’s National Economic Council, was asked that question Friday morning on CNBC...
How Much Would a Federal Jobs Guarantee Cost?

By Michael Rainey

One of the more provocative ideas being kicked around on the progressive left these days is a federal jobs guarantee. Proponents say that too many American workers have been left behind in an...
Shutdown Watch: Congress Passes Stopgap Deal, Postponing Wall Fight

By Yuval Rosenberg

The House and Senate on Thursday passed a two-week extension of government funding via voice votes, pushing the deadline in the ongoing fight over money for President Trump’s border wall until...
Shutdown Watch: Will Trump Play the Grinch This Christmas?

By Yuval Rosenberg

Lawmakers agreed on Monday to a two-week extension of government funding, pushing off the deadline for a partial government shutdown and an ongoing fight over money for President Trump’s proposed...

No, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a $21 Trillion Pentagon Accounting Error Can’t Pay for Medicare for All

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Newly elected representative and social media lightning rod Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) sparked a round of controversy this weekend when she compared the potential cost of Medicare for All to the...
Congress Nears Deal Pushing Shutdown Deadline to Just Before Christmas

By Michael Rainey

Congress and the White House are working on a deal for a two-week extension of government funding that would push the deadline for a fight over a possible government shutdown and money for President...
Trump, After Boosting Military Budget, Calls It ‘Crazy!’

By Yuval Rosenberg

Although he has repeatedly hailed the deal he made earlier this year to increase spending on what he called a “depleted” military, President Trump on Monday declared on Twitter that U.S. defense...
Trump Ready to Spend ‘Buckets of Money’ on Infrastructure: Report

By Yuval Rosenberg

Get ready for more “infrastructure weeks” ahead in 2019. The Trump administration is preparing to make another push for a $1 trillion infrastructure package, The Wall Street Journal reports (paywall...
'Don't Cut Military Spending,' Republicans Warn Trump

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Republican chairs of the Senate and House Armed Services committees take to the op-ed page in Friday’s Wall Street Journal (paywall) to push back on President Trump’s recent request to trim the...

Your Tax Dollars at Work: An Agency ‘Neutered Through Neglect’

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Associated Press’ Juliet Linderman tells the story of Mark Robbins and the Merit Systems Protection Board, “a quasi-judicial federal body designed to determine whether civil servants have been...
Is Trump Serious About Tackling the Deficit? Obviously Not

By Yuval Rosenberg

President Trump is demanding that his advisers come up with a plan to reduce the deficit, The Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey and Damian Paletta report . Oh, and President Trump is also pushing new...
Puerto Rico Facing Steep Charges from FEMA Contractors

By Michael Rainey

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will spend $1.2 billion to repair as many as 120,000 homes damaged by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, but more than 60 percent of that money will be claimed by...
How Much Climate Change Will Cost the US Economy

By Michael Rainey

The White House released the second volume of the “Fourth National Climate Assessment” last Friday, on a day when much of the country was out shopping or home recovering from the Thanksgiving holiday...
After Thanksgiving, Battle Over Trump's Border Wall Looms

By Yuval Rosenberg

Make the most of your Thanksgiving because the political atmosphere in Washington after the holiday is likely to be more strained than any family political discussion over turkey and trimmings...