budget deficit

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Bill's New Baubles Persuade Some, May Scare Others

Adding pet projects could cost support of conservative Blue Dog Dems

(Newser) - The Senate’s version of the bailout bill is loaded with provisions specifically designed to sweeten the pot for House dissenters, Politico reports, including $3.3 billion for rural schools, equal health coverage for the mentally ill, and a suspension of the Alternative Minimum Tax. These changes may win over...

What Will Taxpayers Shell Out for All This?
What Will Taxpayers Shell
Out for All This?
analysis
Sep 28, 2008 1:44 PM CDT

What Will Taxpayers Shell Out for All This?

Some bailouts are more risky, some less—and add up to $1 trillion

(Newser) - If a $700 billion federal bailout sounds like a lot, it is—but Washington will actually shell out $1 trillion in all of its present and proposed plans. Between Henry Paulson's plan, and bailouts of Bear Stearns, AIG, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Wall Street Journal breaks down...

Bailout Won't Boost Deficit
 Bailout Won't 
 Boost Deficit 
ANALYSIS
Sep 26, 2008 7:34 PM CDT

Bailout Won't Boost Deficit

Government would be buying assets, which are worth something

(Newser) - The $700 billion bailout plan won’t have a big immediate impact on the US budget deficit, Phil Izzo explains in the Wall Street Journal, because the government would be buying assets that have an estimated value. That value will be knocked off the purchase cost. “The program does...

Schwarzenegger Signs Calif. Budget, Finally

$103B plan delayed a record 85 days by political wrangling

(Newser) - Arnold Schwarzenegger signed California’s budget into law today, ending a record 85-day delay, the Sacramento Bee reports. The state has been waiting for the governor’s signature on the $103.4 billion plan to restart payments to nursing homes, community colleges and other service providers. California is expanding the...

Subprime Bailout Will 'Stifle' Next President
Subprime Bailout Will
'Stifle' Next President
ANALYSIS
Sep 21, 2008 9:37 AM CDT

Subprime Bailout Will 'Stifle' Next President

And candidates' own plans will add billions to budget deficit

(Newser) - “Change” may be more than an election-year buzzword: Thanks to record deficits and Wall Street's crisis, it could be the only money the next president has left. Barack Obama and John McCain are vowing ambitious projects, reports McClatchy, but “the next president is just not going to have...

Deal Ends Budget Impasse
 Deal Ends Budget Impasse 
Sep 19, 2008 1:55 AM CDT

Deal Ends Budget Impasse

Schwarzenegger, lawmakers dodge veto showdown

(Newser) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California state legislature have ended a nasty budget showdown with a compromise expected to be approved today, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The agreement eliminates extra withholding from workers' paychecks, and bridges a $17 billion budget gap largely  by adding penalties on corporations that underpay...

Governator Vows Veto Volley in Budget Battle

Showdown ahead with state lawmakers over funding sleight-of-hand

(Newser) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is heading for a dramatic and potentially humiliating showdown with the state legislature over the budget, reports the San Jose Mercury News. Schwarzenegger plans to veto the budget which largely relies on accounting sleight-of-hand to close a $15.2 billion shortfall. Legislators say they have enough...

Calif. Budget Deal Pays '08 Debt With '09 Taxes

Plan would borrow against next year's taxes to pay state debts

(Newser) - California lawmakers have finally come to an agreement on the new state budget, ending a stalemate in which Republicans refused to add new taxes and Democrats fought against cutting funding for education and health care. The compromise sees the state using next year's money to pay off its current debts,...

Federal Budget Deficit More Than Doubles, to $407B

Stimulus package contributed; figure is expected to break record in fiscal '09

(Newser) - The federal deficit will swell to $407 billion in the fiscal year that ends this month, the Washington Post reports, a figure more than twice last year’s total. Congressional budget analysts blamed the surge on weak revenue growth and accelerated spending, including the $168 billion economic stimulus package. They...

Bush Leaving $490B Deficit
 Bush Leaving $490B Deficit
Jul 28, 2008 8:53 AM CDT

Bush Leaving $490B Deficit

Record red ink worse than administration predicted

(Newser) - President Bush inherited a $128 billion budget surplus with the White House, but he's saddling his successor with a record deficit, reports USA Today. His administration is forecasting that he’ll leave at least a $490 billion deficit, a dramatic about-face made worse by a continuing economic slowdown and the...

Lean Times Prove Taxing for State Budgets

Shortfalls mean serious cost-cutting, fee hikes across US

(Newser) - Reduced sales, income, and corporate taxes are forcing states to cut back on services and consider laying off workers as they look for ways to slash spending and balance budgets, the Wall Street Journal reports. The National Conference of State Legislatures says states face a $40 billion budget shortfall as...

NY Swears In New Gov; Paterson Calls for Unity

New head of state is funny but also solemn

(Newser) - David Paterson was sworn in as New York’s governor this afternoon and gave a speech that mixed humor and solemnity, the Albany Times-Union reports. “I never expected to have the honor of serving as governor,” said New York’s first black governor, who repeatedly stressed the importance...

McCain Outlines More Specific Fiscal Stance

Candidate looks to cut taxes, project fiscal responsibility

(Newser) - How would John McCain run the economy, really? In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the candidate tried to answer that question, positioning himself as a fiscally responsible defender of the Bush tax cuts. But the candidate’s tax proposals don’t quite add up, the Journal notes, and...

Bush Legacy of Debt May Stymie Successor

He will unveil record $3T budget as deficit soars

(Newser) - The next president may inherit a US government so deeply in debt it could lose its Triple-A credit rating for the first time since Moody's Investors Service began grading securities 90 years ago, warns the Wall Street Journal. The White House is preparing to unveil a record $3 trillion budget...

Bush Legacy: US Awash in Ugly Red Ink

President came in with budget surplus, will leave massive debt

(Newser) - Washington’s sea of red ink is getting deeper as President Bush plans tax cuts and spending bumps to stimulate a foundering economy. Bush's policies have created a fiscal morass that puts his successor, Democrat or Republican, in a deep fiscal hole, and makes delivering on campaign promises difficult, Bloomberg...

Bernanke Backs Quick Bailout
Bernanke Backs Quick Bailout
Jan 17, 2008 10:50 AM CST

Bernanke Backs Quick Bailout

Fast, temporary stimulus would buoy flagging economy, Fed chief tells Congress

(Newser) - The country needs a federal stimulus package ASAP, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the House Budget Committee today, advocating immediate legislation designed “so its effects on aggregate spending are felt as much as possible within the next 12 months.” But he said the package should be “...

Calif. Crunch May Force Drastic Cuts

State might slash education funds, free inmates early

(Newser) - California's dire financial straits may force the early release of 30,000 low-risk inmates and bring drastic cuts in education, the Los Angeles Times reports. Arnold Schwarzenegger will declare a fiscal emergency next month as the state wrestles with a $14.5 billion budget gap. The governor has ordered agencies...

Improved Deficit Can't Last
Improved Deficit Can't Last
Jul 13, 2007 5:24 AM CDT

Improved Deficit Can't Last

US faces huge future budget crunch

(Newser) - The federal deficit is falling: The OMB yesterday predicted a $205 billion deficit for 2007, down from last year and half of what it was at the peak in 2004. But the fiscal good news is not likely to last, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The OMB also predicts the...

Greenspan Sees Recession
Greenspan Sees Recession
Mar 6, 2007 11:04 AM CST

Greenspan Sees Recession

Former fed chairman forecasts end of cycle as early as this year

(Newser) - Back when bankers and investors hung on his every word, Alan Greenspan was caution itself in public pronouncements . But yesterday the former chairman  took the rare step of predicting the onset of an out-and-out recession. Speaking via satellite to a business conference in Hong Kong, Greenspan said the US. economy...

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