Archive for December, 2011
Scrooge, the Federal Budget, and the Things That Might Be
AUTHOR: Scott Bittle, Senior Fellow, Public AgendaDec 22, 2011
A Christmas Carol is one of the great attacks on money-grubbing in Western literature. And if you’re talking about the federal budget, then Scrooge is usually invoked as an example of cold-hearted budget cutting. A Christmas Carol’s messages seem pretty obvious: Money isn’t everything. Don’t forget the poor and starving. Miserliness never pays. All [...]
Last Minute Congressional Holiday Shopping
AUTHOR: Scott Bittle, Senior Fellow, Public AgendaDec 22, 2011
We all know what it’s like in December: the crowds, the shopping, the endless to-do list. You know, the end of the Congressional session. If we needed any more evidence condemning Congress’ current strategy of “let’s set a deadline and force ourselves to act,” this chart from the Pew Fiscal Analysis project makes the case. [...]
The Tempting but Not Quite Complete Tax Debate
AUTHOR: Scott Bittle, Senior Fellow, Public AgendaDec 19, 2011
The greatest temptation in the budget debate is to focus on one thing. If we just do this one thing, whatever it may be, the problem will solve itself. The trouble is that the economy is so complex, with so many moving parts, that there aren’t any magic bullets. Changing one factor may help or [...]
Getting Older, Not Wiser, on the Federal Budget
AUTHOR: Scott Bittle, Senior Fellow, Public AgendaDec 16, 2011
We’re all getting older. And we need to start dealing with it. As a nation, we often act like our budget problems will go away once some specific policy crisis is over. You can hear this all the time, either expressly or implied, when politicians and commentators talk about the budget: “as soon as the [...]
Binding Obligations, Budget Excuses
AUTHOR: Scott Bittle, Senior Fellow, Public AgendaDec 12, 2011
Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between a valid legal point and an excuse. Take, for example, one point that’s come up a lot in the fight over the federal budget. It’s the principle that “no Congress can bind a future Congress.” In other words, what Congress passes today can be repealed tomorrow. The [...]
2012: A Lost Year or Golden Opportunity on the Budget?
AUTHOR: Scott Bittle, Senior Fellow, Public AgendaDec 06, 2011
Is the debate we need about the national debt possible in an election year? The National Journal reports that many budget hawks aren’t giving up on pushing for change in 2012. The conventional wisdom has been that the supercommittee was the last best chance to come up with a thoughtful fiscal plan before the presidential [...]
Will The National Debt Push America Over the Falls?
AUTHOR: Fiscal Future, Site AdministratorDec 01, 2011
Check out our latest video, where America’s leaders take us dangerously close to catastrophe by ignoring the growing perils of the national debt.