by jpitney | Dec 28, 2021 | Budget, Congress, Economic Policy, House of Representatives
Nan Swift at R street Institute: The House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress (SCOMC) closed out the first session of the 117th Congress strong, advancing a second set of congressional reform recommendations. This tranche of recommendations is aimed at...
by jpitney | Sep 30, 2021 | Budget, Constitution, Dreier
It is very rare for a member of Congress to announce an explicit change of mind. In 2011, Rep. David Dreier did so on the proposed balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Peter Kasperowicz wrote at The Hill: House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier...
by jpitney | Sep 24, 2021 | Bipartisanship, Budget, Congress
Lara Brown at The Hill: Backlash is real. Democrats should not fool themselves into believing that passing a massive $3.5 trillion plan that provides Americans with government benefits from “cradle to grave” will be seen by the public as a good thing. Americans are...
by jpitney | Sep 1, 2021 | Budget, Debt, Social Security
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget sums up the annual report of Social Security trustees: The Social Security program is only 13 years from insolvency, and action must be taken promptly to prevent an across-the-board benefit cut for many current and future...
by jpitney | Aug 25, 2021 | Budget, Congress, Economic Policy
Don Wolfensberger at The Hill: What is strange about this fiscal round is that it was not preceded by adoption of the usual concurrent resolution on the budget — the lead engine that pulls all subsequent budgetary actions on spending, revenues, deficit, and debt. The...
by jpitney | Jul 14, 2021 | Budget, Bureaucracy, Congress
Dan Lips at National Review: [There is] new hope that Congress will soon eliminate significant waste from the federal budget, thanks to a bipartisan effort by the House Appropriations Committee. Representatives Tim Ryan (D., Ohio) and Jaime Herrera Beutler (R.,...