budget deficit

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National Debt Now as Big as Entire Economy

And sure to surpass it soon: USA Today

(Newser) - It's official, at least according to USA Today : The national debt is as big as the country's entire economy, and sure to surpass it soon. The federal government owes more than $15.23 trillion to creditors and government programs like Social Security, which is more than the latest...

Fitch Hacks US Debt Outlook After Super Committee Fails

Downgrade of AAA rating could loom

(Newser) - Thanks to the super committee’s super failure, Fitch Ratings has downgraded US debt outlook to negative. Fitch did not lower the US’ AAA rating for long-term treasuries, but a Fitch official says a negative debt outlook often leads to such a downgrade. That decision is not expected until late...

Pentagon: We're Not Planning for Spending Cuts

Says it'll instead pressure Congress to change course

(Newser) - The Pentagon has no plans in place to deal with the $500 billion in spending cuts theoretically heading its way thanks to the supercommittee’s failure —and it refuses to make any now. “We are not planning for the” cuts, a Pentagon spokesman tells the New York Times...

Gingrich: Super Committee Failure 'Good for America'

Liberal bloggers pretty happy about it, too

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich certainly isn’t mourning the super committee’s super failure , calling it “good for America” this morning, Politico reports. Gingrich, a longtime critic of the panel, said the “gridlock” in Washington is “partly the president's fault, it's partly the Congress' fault, but it'...

Stocks Plunge on Super Committee Failure

Dow drops triple digits

(Newser) - Stocks plunged at the opening bell today, thanks to the super committee's failure to reach a deal and the ongoing debt crisis in Europe. As of 9:37am, the Dow was down 158 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P were down 40 and 19 points, respectively, as investors...

After Super Failure, What's Next?

Key issues remain on table for lawmakers as super committee throws in towel

(Newser) - As the debt super committee prepares for an awkward day in which it's expected to announce that it is throwing in the towel, Politico examines what's on the horizon for Washington following the failure to reach an agreement . With no workable proposal on the table, members won’t...

Tom Coburn: Millionaires Get $30B Yearly from US
 Top 1% Nabs 
 $30B a Year in 
 Federal 'Welfare' 
in case you missed it
Nov 19, 2011 11:30 AM CST

Top 1% Nabs $30B a Year in Federal 'Welfare'

Sen. Coburn investigates massive handouts

(Newser) - They’re already in the top 1%, yet they’re getting government handouts worth more than NASA’s budget. American millionaires rake in $30 billion a year from the feds, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn finds in a new report. That’s three times the EPA’s yearly allotment, yet it’...

Super Committee Prospects? Find Synonyms for 'Bleak'

Hope fading fast as deadline nears

(Newser) - So how go the super committee talks as the clock ticks toward the deadline of Wednesday (which really means Monday night for all practical purposes)? It's all but impossible to find even a glimmer of hope:
  • Washington Post : Headline: "Supercommittee at impasse as deadline nears"; snippet: "By
...

House Rejects Balanced Budget Amendment

Measure falls short of two-thirds majority thanks to Democratic opposition

(Newser) - The House has rejected a proposal to amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget, seen by many as the only way to force lawmakers to hold the fiscal line and reverse the flow of federal red ink. The 261-165 vote was 23 short of the two-thirds majority needed to...

If Supercommittee Fails, What Happens? Nothing

And failure is looking exceedingly likely

(Newser) - There’s a reason Capitol Hill isn’t in panic mode ahead of the supercommittee’s dreaded Nov. 23 deadline: because nothing will actually happen in the now-likely event that the committee fails. Turns out those massive spending cuts that supposedly serve as a sword of Damocles for lawmakers don’...

GOP Battles Itself Over Taxes
 GOP Battles Itself Over Taxes 
Nov 17, 2011 12:49 PM CST

GOP Battles Itself Over Taxes

Toomey and Hensarling under fire for tax plan

(Newser) - The proposal that super committee Republicans put forth to raise about $300 billion in new tax revenues may not have been enough to win over Democrats , but it’s been more than enough to stir up dissension in the GOP ranks, with anti-tax hardliners suddenly at odds with long-time compatriots...

Obama Preparing for Debt Committee Flop

Pessimism rampant on Capitol Hill

(Newser) - Publicly White House officials are saying that failure isn’t an option for the deficit super committee, but behind closed doors, failure is exactly what they’re expecting. Advisers privately tell the Washington Post that they’re preparing for the possibility—perhaps probability—that the 12-member committee fails. President Obama...

Super Committee Wants to Count $700B War Savings

'Gimmick' would pay for things like payroll tax cut

(Newser) - The congressional super committee isn’t any closer to a deal, but consensus is growing around one thing: Counting the roughly $700 billion the country intends to stop spending in Iraq and Afghanistan toward its total. The idea has budget experts enraged—one member of a bipartisan group called it...

Deficit Talks Deadlocked, Despite GOP Revenue Offer

Democrats say it's not high enough

(Newser) - Republicans on the deficit super committee finally budged on revenues this week, in what Dick Durbin yesterday hailed as “a breakthrough” in the talks. But Democrats swiftly rejected the GOP’s offer for $350 billion in new revenue as insufficient, leaving the committee about where it was—with less...

GOP Offers New Tax Deal, Backs Higher Revenue

Democrats dismiss it, say it hurts middle class

(Newser) - With a Thanksgiving deadline fast approaching, the GOP members of a deficit-reduction supercommittee are pressing a plan to cut the deficit by about $1.5 trillion over the coming decade, showing flexibility on tax revenue increases for the first time while proposing to gradually raise the Medicare eligibility age to...

Debt Plan Will Contain New Tax Revenues: Boehner

But entitlements must be adjusted, speaker says

(Newser) - Despite Republican leaders' push against a tax hike, the super committee debt deal will include new tax revenues, John Boehner said yesterday. "I think there is room for revenues, but I think there clearly is a limit to the amount of revenues that are available." His comments follow...

Bipartisan Letter to Super Committee: Blow Past $1.5T

40 GOP reps now open to revenue hikes

(Newser) - A collection of 100 House members—including, critically, 40 Republicans—have sent a bipartisan letter urging the deficit reduction “super committee” to create a broad deal that would both trim entitlement cuts and boost revenue. “To succeed, all options for mandatory discretionary spending and revenues must be on...

Super Committee Dems Propose $3T Debt Deal

It includes big slashes to Medicare

(Newser) - Democrats threw a whopper of a deal onto the table in a closed-door super committee meeting yesterday, offering a plan that would slash between $2.5 trillion and $3 trillion from the deficit over the next 10 years, while providing between $200 billion and $300 billion in new stimulus spending,...

Ron Paul Unveils Plan to Cut $1T From Budget

Foreign aid and education department would be history

(Newser) - Ron Paul may have turned up the heat on fellow Republican candidates today by unveiling a plan to cut $1 trillion from the federal budget—in a single year, the Washington Post reports. In a Las Vegas speech, Paul said he would:
  • End the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, cut all
...

Greece Announces Austerity Plan to Fire Workers
 Greece to Fire 
 30K Workers 
Oct 2, 2011 3:35 PM CDT

Greece to Fire 30K Workers

Budget deficit will fall short of EU, IMF targets

(Newser) - The Greek economic tragedy took another hair-raising turn today, Reuters reports. Enacting an austerity plan to attract EU and IMF loans, politicians there announced a new plan to place 30,000 workers in a "labor reserve" where they will earn partial pay and be laid off in a year....

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