Budget Matters Blog

Followers of "Ask Kyle" may be surprised to see this, as our good friend and colleague Kyle Andrejczyk posted his last post on September 12. But so many people found Kyle's work to be so helpful in explaining the craziness that went on this summer in Washington around the federal budget that we at NPP are reluctant to let Kyle go. And with a complicated road still to be driven by Congress between now and the end of the year on the federal deficit and the national debt, we need Kyle more than ever.So Kyle is staying, at ...

Do you remember (as unpleasant as it may be) the debt-ceiling fiasco that happened a little more than a month ago?  Well in case you need a refresher, the end result called for an immediate $917 billion in spending cuts over the next 10 years. The rest of the proverbial buck was passed onto to a joint congressional committee charged with finding an additional $1.2 – 1.5 trillion in savings. This is important because this newly formed “Super Committee” will potentially be deciding federal spending priorities for the next decade.I say potentially because there’s a possibility that ...

England certainly seems like a long ways away my friends, both in terms of miles (or kilometers) and humor. And perhaps that’s a good thing considering the onerous prison sentences doled out as a result of the recent London riots. But as many of you on our Facebook page have been hinting at, the UK may actually be a little closer than we think…Much of the news media cited the slaying of Mark Duggan, a black man, by London police as the cause of the riots. However, as many people who spend their days thinking about these sorts ...

Well friends it's August 3, and despite their best efforts Congress and the President did finally pass a deal to raise the debt-ceiling. It's call the Budget Control Act of 2011. Happy days, right? Not so fast, Fonzarelli. Nearly every lawmaker who voted for the bill has described it as the legislative equivalent of a '87 Buick Wagon: not pretty, but it'll get you to work. Here in the halls of the National Priorities Project we've been mulling over the details of the plan extensively, which you can read about here and here. After looking at ...

Well, people, it's August 1, just hours away from the deadline for raising the debt-ceiling and avoiding a disastrous U.S. credit default. As this story has unfolded, we've had some laughs, shared some disappointments and frustrations I'm sure, as well as a renewed our appreciation for the nuances of the English language. But now Congress seems ready to strike a deal. So let's take one more debt-ceiling drive together, shall we? This is kind of a long read, but stick with me on this one! What's going on right now will affect us all ...

We left off last week with a Boehner-Obama breakup that would've made the writers of Dawson's Creek green with envy. On Friday, it was rumored the two were close to striking a deal on the debt-ceiling, but then Boehner started acting all weird and not returning Barry's phone calls. So Obama was all like "what's going on? I thought we had something here?" So then Boehner comes out and says "sorry, but I just don't feel the same way...it's not me, it's you." Then Obama was all like, "whatever, your loss." ...I ...

We left off last week with the White House talks crumbling, the GOP rallying around the sure-to-fail Cut, Cap & Balance Act, and Sen. Mitch McConnell's “last ditch” plan gaining traction, at least in the Senate. Here's what's happening this week with the debt-ceiling (and if you have time check out out this op-ed from Joe Scarborough, even if you don't agree with his politics he has some great insights on the topic):Sunday, July 17House Speaker John Boehner and House Minority Leader Eric Cantor meet with President Obama at the White House. Boehner's office later ...

A LOT of people have been asking me for details of what's been going on with the debt-ceiling. And rightly so, there's a flood of information out there. But here's the important stuff:On Thursday, July 7, President Obama met with Congressional leaders at the White House in an attempt to break the impasse in the debt-ceiling negotiations.  Previous talks among the Gang of Six (really 5), and the Biden Group both broke down. The thinking here was that the Presidential gravitas might help to break the stalemate and get a deal hammered out before the United ...

If you're anything like me, it's because you simply don't make enough money to be taxed at the top marginal rate. A “marginal rate” is the rate at which your last dollar of earned-income is taxed. These “marginal dollars” are the dollars at the very upper edge of your income. The “top marginal rate” is simply the highest marginal rate in the U.S. tax code...something that most of us will never see.With discussion of raising taxes on the wealthy going on in the debt-ceiling talks right now, I've been noticing a lot of ...

Everybody wants to reduce the deficit, right? Elected officials across the political spectrum, business  and labor groups, even 81% of everyday Americans (according to a poll by the Pew Research Center) — all would like to see the federal deficit reduced. The thing is, it's incredibly difficult to get all these people with disparate interests to agree on exactly how to do it. Everybody wants to cut the deficit, but no one wants to see funding cuts (or ending tax breaks) to their “sacred cows.” So everything (that I like) is amazing and nobody's happy (with that).“...After the ...