by jpitney | Jan 18, 2025 | Budget, California Politics
Alexei Koseff at CalMatters: [In] his six years in the governor’s office, Newsom has steadily guided California’s government to expand its mission and scope: launching flashy initiatives, creating new departments and offering more services to more people, even during...
by jpitney | Dec 20, 2024 | Budget, Congress, Debt, Economic Policy
Don Wolfensberger at The Hill: Since 1976 there have been 21 government shutdowns, the longest lasting 34 days, from Dec. 22, 2018 to Jan. 25, 2019. The second longest was 21 days in December 1995 (“the Gingrich that stole Christmas”). And the third longest was 16...
by jpitney | Dec 6, 2024 | Budget, Congress
Don Wolfensberger: It is difficult, even for budget-savvy folks to follow the rocky road of PAYGO and its many iterations and exemptions. Suffice to say, the best laid plans often go awry. And congressional budgeting has been a big catcher in the awry. What...
by jpitney | Nov 23, 2024 | Budget, Public Administration, Public Service
Don Wolfsenberget at The HIll: There have been several presidents in recent times who have made dramatic attempts through specially appointed entities to bring government spending under control. A recent Washington Post headline summed these up: “The disappointing...
by jpitney | Nov 13, 2024 | Budget, Public Administration
Andrew Rudalevige at Good Authority: Probably the closest quasi-recent parallel is the President’s Private Sector Survey on Cost Control in the Federal Government, convened by Ronald Reagan in 1982. PPSSCCFG was hardly a mellifluous acronym, so the body was usually...
by jpitney | Mar 4, 2024 | Budget, Debt, Economic Policy
Mark J. Warshawsky at AEI: Last week, the Treasury Department released, with no fanfare, the massive Financial Report (FR) of the US Government. Using an accrual accounting basis, rather than a cash basis, the FR shows a much poorer picture of the current finances of...
