The new 113th Congress has gotten into full swing, and recent happenings illustrate nicely the operatic drama and controversy that Washington, D.C. can produce, and also the quiet day-to-day. We’re talking about spending, big and small. First, the high drama. House Republicans are going after President Obama this week, seeking to focus attention on the [...]
If the budget process for fiscal year 2014 is lining up to be normal, that’s no guarantee that it will finish that way. But it’s a start. The background: Each year, there is a set schedule on which the president and Congress are supposed to propose budgets and pass spending bills for the coming fiscal [...]
House and Senate leaders have agreed to fund the government for the first half of FY 2013 under a “continuing resolution.” That means that the twelve annual appropriations bills won’t make their way through the House and Senate. These are twelve debates about the management of the government and the priorities of the country won’t [...]
When we wrote “Obamacare Repeal: For Show or For Real?” back in January, the point was that House Republicans were making a great show of trying to repeal Obamacare, but there was no chance their bill was going to pass. Their hopes for getting rid of the new national health care regulations were in the [...]
Congress is taking a two-week spring break. It will return to work on April 16th. That’s the day after tax day! It’s also the day after Congress is supposed to finish work on the budget resolution for fiscal year 2013. So far, the House has passed its budget resolution. That’s H. Con. Res. 112. It [...]
Around the time of President Obama’s state of the union speech two weeks ago, Republicans and their allies came out arguing that the Democratic Senate hadn’t produced a budget in 1,000 days. Senate Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) disputes the charge. Is it true? The new budget season starts today, so it’s a great [...]
We like it. Congress shouldn’t be paid if they haven’t passed a budget. And we’ve added the No Budget, No Pay Act to our list of bills that supporters of a transparent and orderly Congress should back. (That’s S. 1442. Another bill with the same name we’ve also added is S. 1981.) And also its [...]
The action is in the House Budget Committee this week. That’s the committee that looks after Congress’ constitutional power to spend, collect revenue, and borrow. (The House committee must work with its Senate counterpart, of course). The budget committees set spending amounts each year before the appropriations committees go to work on the actual spending—though [...]
When you withdraw funds from your bank, you can check online moments later and confirm the transaction. When Congress spends $400 of your money, good luck finding out about it. Last week, Congress agreed on a short-term plan to fund the government through November 18th. Except … they didn’t hash out all the details quite [...]
Sleight of hand is the magician’s best friend. Audiences enjoy wonderment and delight when their eyes have been fooled. So you might think that the distraction of the debt ceiling debate will lead to some magical outcome. Oh, quite the opposite, my friends. You see, while government-watchers like you have focused on the debt ceiling [...]