Understanding the “Cut, Cap, Balance” Plan
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Keith Hennessey explains the “Cut, Cap, & Balance Act”.
The key to understanding this bill is that it focuses on government spending, rather than on taxes or deficits. The bill would achieve significant deficit reduction through cutting and limiting spending, and all of its mechanisms use spending rather than deficit targets.
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Myths About the Debt Ceiling
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Reason columnist and Mercatus Center economist Veronique de Rugy explains the truth behind some of the myths in the current debt ceiling debate.
If a deal is not reached by August 2, the U.S. will default on its debt. If the debt ceiling isn’t raised the government won’t be able to …
Zygi Wilf Can Buy His Own Stadium
Zygi Wilf, Minnesota governor Mark Dayton discuss new Minnesota Vikings stadium – ESPN
When Gov. Mark Dayton and state lawmakers announced that the outlines of a new budget deal were in place, the Minnesota Vikings were hoping that the door was finally open to discuss their plan for a new $1 billion stadium in …
District swings from deficit to surplus
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As changes to collective bargaining powers for public workers take effect today, the Kaukauna Area School District is poised to swing from a projected $400,000 budget shortfall next year to a $1.5 million surplus due to health care and retirement savings.
“These impacts will allow the district to hire additional …
The Role that Bush-Era Tax and Spending Policies Play in the Deficit
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The Tax Foundation crunches the numbers to see if it’s true that “the economic downturn, President Bush’s tax cuts and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq explain virtually the entire deficit over the next ten years.”
1) Tax revenues have fluctuated largely with the economy, dropping precipitously in the aftermath of the 2008 recession, …
Further Thoughts on Taxes and Spending
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William Voegeli takes on the idea that “it’s absurd to cut spending because we tax the wealthiest Americans less today than we did in 1955”.
First he illustrates that today’s rich pay more in taxes than the rich of 1955 did. (They pay more in real dollar terms, even if they do pay less in percentage …
Wisconsin Takes a Step Backwards in Police Accountability
I was disappointed to see that state Representative Robin Vos is undoing one of the good reforms that Governor Doyle put into place.
In the bad old days, Milwaukee police officers had cut a sweet deal that allowed them to keep collecting paychecks and benefits when they were fired by the police chief until …
Explaining Walker’s K-12 Cuts to the Kids
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Jeremy Shown does his part to “explain to the kids” what Governor Walker’s education cuts are and how students will be affected by them.
The student/teacher ratio here in Wisconsin is about 15 students for every teacher. I suspect your class may have more than 15 students because this ratio probably includes teachers who …
Another Record Month in the Red
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The U.S. ran a $233 billion deficit, just in February alone. Fun fact:
As noted in the Washington Times, the GOP’s proposed $61 billion in spending cuts is about 27 percent of the monthly deficit, while the Democratic plan — $6 billion — is just 3 percent of that figure.
Senator Rand Paul wants to cut $500 …
Walker’s Budget and Collective-Bargaining Reform
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Scott Walker has intended to cut state spending by $2.4 billion all along. The Budget Repair Bill, that limits collective bargaining, was intended to give local governments more tools to reduce costs besides just eliminating programs.
Christian Schneider details some of the ways that Walker’s repair bill will help cut costs.