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NEWS ABOUT: budget deficit

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House GOP Caves, Backs Payroll Tax

Boehner and Co. say they'll accept tax cut without paying for it elsewhere

(Newser) - House Republican leaders have surprised and angered rank-and-file lawmakers by abruptly backing down from demands that a 10-month extension of the payroll tax cut be paid for with cuts elsewhere. GOP leaders are wary of holding up a tax cut for 160 million Americans in an election year, Politico notes,... More »

Obama Unveils $3.8T Budget, Targets Rich

Budget would institute 'Buffett Rule,' boost infrastructure

(Newser) - President Obama officially unveiled his $3.8 trillion budget today, and as expected it draws a 2012 battle line, calling for higher taxes on the wealthy combined with spending measures intended to bolster the economy, the AP reports. "We built this budget around the idea that our country has... More »

Obama's Budget Sets Up Fight With GOP

He wants to beef up domestic spending, raise taxes on rich

(Newser) - The major news outlets are getting details of the budget plan President Obama will unveil on Monday, and it sounds like it's designed to set up election-year comparisons with Republicans. Two big themes: It calls for higher taxes on the rich and big spending on roads and manufacturing projects.... More »

How Much Did Obama Really Add to Deficit?

Ezra Klein crunches the numbers and comes up with a lower total than you think

(Newser) - Mitt Romney has taken to carrying around a debt clock, blaming President Obama for the ever-climbing number it shows. But the clock doesn't show how much Obama has actually added to that debt, so Ezra Klein set out to find out. "There are two answers," he writes... More »

Deficit to Shrink ... to $1.1T

Congressional Budget Office releases its assessment

(Newser) - Good news/bad news time. Good news: The deficit will fall this year, thanks to additional tax revenue and major cuts in government spending. Bad news: It's still going to be $1.1 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office estimate released today; last year's total was $1.3... More »

National Debt Now as Big as Entire Economy

And sure to surpass it soon: USA Today

(Newser) - It's official, at least according to USA Today : The national debt is as big as the country's entire economy, and sure to surpass it soon. The federal government owes more than $15.23 trillion to creditors and government programs like Social Security, which is more than the latest... More »

Fitch Hacks US Debt Outlook After Super Committee Fails

Downgrade of AAA rating could loom

(Newser) - Thanks to the super committee’s super failure, Fitch Ratings has downgraded US debt outlook to negative. Fitch did not lower the US’ AAA rating for long-term treasuries, but a Fitch official says a negative debt outlook often leads to such a downgrade. That decision is not expected until late... More »

Pentagon: We're Not Planning for Spending Cuts

Says it'll instead pressure Congress to change course

(Newser) - The Pentagon has no plans in place to deal with the $500 billion in spending cuts theoretically heading its way thanks to the supercommittee’s failure —and it refuses to make any now. “We are not planning for the” cuts, a Pentagon spokesman tells the New York Times... More »

Gingrich: Super Committee Failure 'Good for America'

Liberal bloggers pretty happy about it, too

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich certainly isn’t mourning the super committee’s super failure , calling it “good for America” this morning, Politico reports. Gingrich, a longtime critic of the panel, said the “gridlock” in Washington is “partly the president's fault, it's partly the Congress' fault, but it'... More »

Stocks Plunge on Super Committee Failure

Dow drops triple digits

(Newser) - Stocks plunged at the opening bell today, thanks to the super committee's failure to reach a deal and the ongoing debt crisis in Europe. As of 9:37am, the Dow was down 158 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P were down 40 and 19 points, respectively, as investors... More »

After Super Failure, What's Next?

Key issues remain on table for lawmakers as super committee throws in towel

(Newser) - As the debt super committee prepares for an awkward day in which it's expected to announce that it is throwing in the towel, Politico examines what's on the horizon for Washington following the failure to reach an agreement . With no workable proposal on the table, members won’t... More »

Top 1% Nabs $30B a Year in Federal 'Welfare'

Sen. Coburn investigates massive handouts

(Newser) - They’re already in the top 1%, yet they’re getting government handouts worth more than NASA’s budget. American millionaires rake in $30 billion a year from the feds, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn finds in a new report. That’s three times the EPA’s yearly allotment, yet it’... More »

Super Committee Prospects? Find Synonyms for 'Bleak'

Hope fading fast as deadline nears

(Newser) - So how go the super committee talks as the clock ticks toward the deadline of Wednesday (which really means Monday night for all practical purposes)? It's all but impossible to find even a glimmer of hope:
  • Washington Post : Headline: "Supercommittee at impasse as deadline nears"; snippet: "By
... More »

House Rejects Balanced Budget Amendment

Measure falls short of two-thirds majority thanks to Democratic opposition

(AP) - The House has rejected a proposal to amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget, seen by many as the only way to force lawmakers to hold the fiscal line and reverse the flow of federal red ink. The 261-165 vote was 23 short of the two-thirds majority needed to... More »

If Supercommittee Fails, What Happens? Nothing

And failure is looking exceedingly likely

(Newser) - There’s a reason Capitol Hill isn’t in panic mode ahead of the supercommittee’s dreaded Nov. 23 deadline: because nothing will actually happen in the now-likely event that the committee fails. Turns out those massive spending cuts that supposedly serve as a sword of Damocles for lawmakers don’... More »

GOP Battles Itself Over Taxes

Toomey and Hensarling under fire for tax plan

(Newser) - The proposal that super committee Republicans put forth to raise about $300 billion in new tax revenues may not have been enough to win over Democrats , but it’s been more than enough to stir up dissension in the GOP ranks, with anti-tax hardliners suddenly at odds with long-time compatriots... More »

Obama Preparing for Debt Committee Flop

Pessimism rampant on Capitol Hill

(Newser) - Publicly White House officials are saying that failure isn’t an option for the deficit super committee, but behind closed doors, failure is exactly what they’re expecting. Advisers privately tell the Washington Post that they’re preparing for the possibility—perhaps probability—that the 12-member committee fails. President Obama... More »

Super Committee Wants to Count $700B War Savings

'Gimmick' would pay for things like payroll tax cut

(Newser) - The congressional super committee isn’t any closer to a deal, but consensus is growing around one thing: Counting the roughly $700 billion the country intends to stop spending in Iraq and Afghanistan toward its total. The idea has budget experts enraged—one member of a bipartisan group called it... More »

Deficit Talks Deadlocked, Despite GOP Revenue Offer

Democrats say it's not high enough

(Newser) - Republicans on the deficit super committee finally budged on revenues this week, in what Dick Durbin yesterday hailed as “a breakthrough” in the talks. But Democrats swiftly rejected the GOP’s offer for $350 billion in new revenue as insufficient, leaving the committee about where it was—with less... More »

GOP Offers New Tax Deal, Backs Higher Revenue

Democrats dismiss it, say it hurts middle class

(AP) - With a Thanksgiving deadline fast approaching, the GOP members of a deficit-reduction supercommittee are pressing a plan to cut the deficit by about $1.5 trillion over the coming decade, showing flexibility on tax revenue increases for the first time while proposing to gradually raise the Medicare eligibility age to... More »

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