Budget

The Terrible Cost of the War in Afghanistan

By Yuval Rosenberg

The war in Afghanistan is the longest armed conflict in U.S. history, and throughout the 18 years of fighting, U.S. officials have publicly said they were making progress. Yet a new investigative...
The Fiscal Challenge for the Next Recession

By Yuval Rosenberg

The federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2019 was nearly $1 trillion. “In the next downturn, don’t be surprised if this number hits $2 trillion,” writes Nick Timiraos, The Wall Street Journal’s...
Is Trump's $28 Billion Bailout Paying Farmers Too Much?

By Michael Rainey

The Trump administration is spending $28 billion to bail out farmers hurt by the president’s trade war with China – a huge sum that some experts say overestimates the economic losses inflicted by the...
New Trump Food Stamp Rule Will Cut 700,000 from Program

By Michael Rainey

The White House said Wednesday that it has finalized a rule that will tighten work requirements for participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The new rule could result...
Navy Awards Largest Shipbuilding Contract Ever

By Michael Rainey

The U.S. Navy awarded a contract Monday worth more than $22 billion to build nine new attack submarines. The agreement with General Dynamics Electric Boat includes an option for a 10 th sub, which...

On Congress’s To-Do List: Prevent a Shutdown in 18 Days

By Yuval Rosenberg

Congressional appropriators back from their Thanksgiving recess have just three weeks to hammer out details on dozens of policy differences over federal funding for fiscal year 2020, which started on...
Chart of the Day: Record Low Poverty Rate

By Michael Rainey

The extensive array of government assistance programs — including Social Security, unemployment insurance, veterans’ benefits, nutritional aid, rental assistance and the Earned Income Tax Credit —...
Trump Scores a Win From NATO, but Fireworks Ahead

By Michael Rainey

Ahead of NATO’s 70th-anniversary meeting in London this week, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced last Thursday that the U.S. will contribute less to the alliance’s relatively small central...
Congress Makes a Deal on 2020 Spending, but the Budget Battle Is Far from Over

By Michael Rainey

Lawmakers took a big step over the weekend toward reaching a spending deal for the 2020 fiscal year, though a major hurdle — funding for President Trump’s border wall — remains in place. On Saturday...
States Boost Spending at Fastest Pace Since Great Recession

By Yuval Rosenberg

U.S. states increased spending in fiscal year 2019 at the fastest clip since the end of the Great Recession, according to a new report from the National Association of State Budget Officers. Total...

Should Failing Private Pension Funds Get a Federal Bailout?

By Marc Joffe

Bailing out pension funds by offering them unpayable loans simply kicks the can down the road and increases future deficits in a non-transparent manner. Worse, this approach could easily spread to...
The GOP’s Tax-Cut Two-Step

By Yuval Rosenberg

Liberal critics of the Republican tax plan have long warned that it’s just the first part of a two-step plan that, after adding $1.7 trillion to the nation’s long-term debt, would quickly lead to GOP...
There’s Still No Evidence That Tax Cuts Pay for Themselves

By Michael Rainey

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has long claimed that tax cuts will pay for themselves through faster economic growth. On Sunday, Mnuchin told CNN that the GOP tax bill will generate “$2.5 trillion...
How the GOP Tax Bill Could Trigger $25 Billion in Medicare Cuts in 2018

By Yuval Rosenberg

As they look to advance their tax bills, Congressional Republicans will have to work through — or around — a few potentially problematic budget rules. One is the Senate’s Byrd Rule, which says that...
Another Shutdown Threat? Why Congress Could Hit a Wall in December

By Yuval Rosenberg

It looks increasingly likely that Republican and Democratic leaders will be playing more than one hand of high-stakes poker on a spending bill needed to avoid a government shutdown. While Republicans...