Federal deficit

Although legislative gridlock is a top concern of the American public, Investor’s Business Daily argues that gridlock saves the American tax payer a lot of money. Among other things, rates of spending are checked, and other potentially costly programs are held at bay by the lack of consensus. However,…

While $5 billion amounts to a lot of money, Jay Cost of National Review Online explains why the fight over that level of funding for a southern border wall seems odd in the context of a much larger federal budget. This year, the United States government will have…

Quin Hillyer of the Washington Examiner probes a little-known piece of the federal government spending problem. Analysts often speak figuratively about “out of control” federal spending, but a House subcommittee hearing this week showed that most federal spending quite literally is out of control. As in, Congress doesn’t…

With Democrats set to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Susan Ferrechio of the Washington Examiner reports on their plan to revive a discarded piece of past federal budgets. House Democrats are eager to revive the notorious earmark, which is any provision that allocates cash to…

Yuval Levin assesses at National Review Online the minor suggestions put forward by a new committee examining the federal budget process. The special committee’s markup process, which began this week and will continue on Tuesday, has so far resulted in three amendments being added to the committee’s reform…

James Capretta of the American Enterprise Institute explains why entitlement reform faces such a difficult path to success. Democrats in Congress have seized on recent comments by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to accuse Republicans of planning to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid if the GOP holds…

That quote comes from President Trump, who is telling his Cabinet secretaries to cut 5% from their budgets due to the ballooning federal deficit. It’s about time the president focused on spending. I’ve supported his efforts to cut regulations and to ensure new Supreme Court justices respect the constitution,…

Justin Bogie explains at the Daily Signal how mounting federal debt threatens our current economic prosperity. For years, budget experts have warned Congress that high deficit and debt levels are not sustainable and will eventually lead to an economic breakdown. Unless lawmakers make significant reforms to entitlement programs—the…