William McKenzie: The really big spill is our federal red ink

U.S. Deficit-Reduction Panel Gives Priority to Spending Cuts
By JOHN D. MCKINNON Democrats on a blue-ribbon Deficit-reduction panel suggested Spending Cuts would likely have to outweigh Tax Increases if the nation is to seriously tackle its ballooning financial obligations. The discussions came as Congressional Budget analysts projected that federal Debt would rise to 62% of gross domestic product by the end of 2010, the highest level since the aftermath of World War II. That's up from 40% at the end of 2008. Erskine Bowles, the Democratic co-chairman...

POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Thursday, July 1, 2010
From CNN's Leslie Bentz The CNN Washington Bureau's morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Washington/POLITICAL For the latest political news: www.CNNPolitics.com CNNMoney: House OKs Wall Street Reform Bill The House voted 237-192 Wednesday to pass a sweeping package of Reforms to the Financial regulatory system, moving the Bill a step closer to the finish line. But the Senate isn't likely to take up the measure until the week of July...

"It's Bush's Fault" by Colonel Bob Pappas, USMC, Retired
It's Bush's Fault by Colonel Bob Pappas, USMC, Retired Before beginning, in the last essay, titled "Useful Idiots, Freedom's Enemy" I made a comparison between Alex Haley's "Roots" to the larger context of U.S. Americans having a need to know and understand this Nation's roots. A number of readers reminded me that Haley's book, although portrayed as an authentic investigation was a work of fiction mixed with its own version of reality. They are Right and I was wrong for not...

James K. Galbraith: Why the Fiscal Commission Does Not Serve the American People
Cross-posted from New Deal 2.0 . President Obama and his Economic team face a daunting challenge: how to deliver Economic Growth they know can only come from Deficit Spending, while deferring into the future the "fiscal consolidation" which is being pressed on them by practically everyone, from Peter G. Peterson to Angela Merkel. Clearly the "Bipartisan Deficit commission" -- like practically all Bipartisan commissions -- was a device to deflect this pressure. The President created the...

After the Bailouts, Washington's the Boss
By BOB DAVIS , DEBORAH SOLOMON and JON HILSENRATH Associated Press President Obama, with Congressional Financial committee leaders and his economic team in February. In 2008 and 2009, Washington strove to save The Economy. In 2010, Americans will get a clearer picture of how Washington has changed The Economy. Only as the Recession recedes will it become fully evident how permanently the state's role has expanded and whether, as a consequence, a new, hybrid strain of American Capitalism is...

For Senate Advocates of Unemployment Insurance Extension, a Battle to Nowhere
Senate Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell (Ky.), have repeatedly blocked attempts to extend Unemployment Insurance over Deficit concerns. (epa/ZUMApress.com) On Wednesday night, a bare-bones measure to keep federally funded Unemployment Insurance checks headed to the long-term unemployed failed in the Senate. Moderate Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine had signed on to vote for cloture on the $34 Billion bill. But without Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), who passed away...

Students from Concerned Youth of America want Congress to watch its spending
Although notoriously known for their apathy toward politics, a growing number of Young People nationwide are outraged at what they consider to be the Government's constant overspending. And some Students are taking their anger to Capitol Hill. Concerned Youth of America, a Student-run organization aimed at raising awareness about Government Spending, is testifying before the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Wednesday. The Group wants to let lawmakers know that the...

Democrats USE Oil Spill To Control House Republicans
Oil Spill visits get partisan Politico Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) wanted to fly 10 lawmakers down to the Gulf of Mexico to see the damage caused by BP's gigantic Oil Spill first hand. House Democrats said no. Republicans want to be able to take trips using their office spending allowance. But Democrats have heard from the Department of Homeland Security, which has asked that Congress organize trips through committees of jurisdiction, to avoid having to cater to a ton of individual...

Andy Stern: Invest Social Security Funds In Wall Street
Andy Stern, a key member of the Deficit commission, is pushing to invest a significant portion of the Social Security trust Fund in private companies through the Stock Market, the former Labor Leader told HuffPost. Stern, taking a break from one of the few public meetings of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, said that Social Security "needs to be, like any Pension Fund, brought back into balance." There were several ways to bring the Fund into balance, he said, but...

Democrats Demagogue Jobless Benefits
From an outraged (at Republicans) Associated Press : 1.3 million unemployed won’t get Benefits restored By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press Writer July 1, 2010 Washington " More than 1.3 million Laid-off workers won’t get their Unemployment Benefits reinstated before Congress goes on a weeklong vacation for Independence Day . An additional 200,000 people who have been without a job for at least six months stand to lose their Benefits each week, unless Congress acts. ...

Krugman: Another Depression Is Likely
Paul Krugman thinks we’re headed for a third depression — in fact, it may already have begun: Recessions are common; depressions are rare. As far as I can tell, there were only two eras in Economic history that were widely described as "depressions" at the time: the Years of deflation and instability that followed the Panic of 1873 and the Years of mass Unemployment that followed the Financial Crisis of 1929-31. [...] We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third...

Why the Fiscal Commission Does Not Serve the American People
Why the Fiscal Commission Does Not Serve the American People Wednesday, 06/30/2010 - 1:13 pm by James K. Galbraith | Post a Comment --> Wednesday, 06/30/2010 - 1:13 pm by James K. Galbraith | Post a Comment President Obama and his Economic team face a daunting challenge: how to deliver Economic Growth they know can only come from Deficit Spending, while deferring into the future the “fiscal consolidation” which is being pressed on them by practically everyone, from Peter...

A bailout won't solve California's budget deficit " nor will it fix D.C.
Over the past couple of years, Washington has thrown out Bailout after Bailout at the National economy.

Government Math... FOR KIDS!
By Keith Johnson, Revolt of the Plebs Luke:

Republican Rep. Steve King's discharge petition aimed at repealing Obamacare gains 66 signatories
FILE - In this June 19, 20007 file photo, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, File) Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King’s discharge petition , aimed at repealing ObamaCare, is gaining momentum in the House as more representatives sign on. Today Rep. Tom Price, Georgia Republican and chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) is circulating a request that members support the petition. To date 66 representatives,...

House passes landmark financial reform bill
Washington (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a landmark overhaul of Financial Regulations but the Senate put off action until mid-July, delaying a final victory for President Barack Obama. Politics Still, the 237 to 192 vote in the House marked a win for Obama and his fellow Democrats, who have made the most sweeping rewrite of Wall Street rules since the 1930s a top priority in the wake of the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis. "It has been a long fight against the...

House passes Wall Street financial reform bill
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a landmark overhaul of Financial Regulations but the Senate put off action until mid-July, delaying a final victory for President Barack Obama . Still, the 237 to 192 vote in the House marked a win for Obama and his fellow Democrats, who have made the most sweeping rewrite of Wall Street rules since the 1930s a top priority in the wake of the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis. "It has been a long fight against the defenders of the status quo...

How Republicans Would Govern
The Republican Party, it seems, is getting more extreme every day. Not only have Republicans welcomed Tea Party Candidates and Tea Party Activists with open arms, they've begun to adopt many of the Tea Party's most conservative positions, and ideas that once would have been considered fringe positions now dominate the Republican Party's agenda. Need proof? Look no further than the Pittsburgh Tribune Review . In an interview with that paper this week, Senate Minority Leader John...

U.S. debt ratio to rise sharply in 2010
WASHINGTON, June 30 (UPI) -- The Congressional Budget Office in Washington said government Debt would rise to 62 percent of the gross domestic output by the end of the year. As a percentage, the federal Debt is projected to be the highest in relation to the GDP it has been since shortly following World War II. Two years ago, in 2008, government Debt equaled 40 percent of the GDP, slightly higher than the long-term average of 36 percent, the CBO said Wednesday in its Budget Outlook update. In...

The G20's China Bet
By Simon Johnson The G20 communiqué, released after the Toronto summit on Sunday, made it quite clear that most industrialized countries now have Budget Deficit reduction fever ( see this version , with line-by-line comments by me, Marc Chandler and Arvind Subramanian).

Wonkbook: House passes FinReg; unemployment insurance fails; CBO makes the case for stimulus
The House passed the revised conference report for FinReg, but with the Senate delaying its vote until after the Fourth of July, final passage remains uncertain. The Senate, meanwhile, did not pass the standalone Unemployment Insurance extension, meaning checks will cease for millions of Americans. Testimony from CBO director Doug Elmendorf suggests that short-term Stimulus may make budgetary sense, and can play nice with long-term Deficit reduction. A Senate proposal to eliminate the cap on...

A bailout won't solve California's budget deficit " nor will it fix D.C.
Over the past couple of years, Washington has thrown out Bailout after Bailout at the National economy.

War of Words
By Lisa Fabrizio on 7.1.10 @ 6:07AM As we know, the world of political journalism has radically changed in the post-WWII decades. The methods, the tone and the very role of media have morphed over time, although they have always been prone to liberal leanings. They began as mere reporters, whose sole function was to chronicle events in Washington. These pressmen represented the classic Liberalism of the Scoop Jackson variety -- committed to equality among men at home and the belief that a...

Charlie Crist Sued
By Larry Thornberry on 7.1.10 @ 6:08AM TAMPA -- Florida's former RINO Governor Charlie Crist, who shed his Republican disguise in April to seek a U.S. Senate seat as an independent, has shaken both sides of the money tree to great effect. But it's not clear now if he'll get away with it. A Florida Republican legislator and attorney in Naples is suing Crist in an attempt to get Crist to, as we phrase it in the South, do right. When Crist filed for the Senate seat in the spring of 2009 as a...

Opposing view on banking overhaul: Bailout nation
Far from Reform, the Democrats ' Wall Street Bailout Bill embodies everything that is wrong with Washington in the Obama-Pelosi-Reid era. Instead of adopting common-sense Reforms to protect Taxpayers and ensure fairness, this 2,000-page Bill enshrines us as a Bailout nation through its permanent TARP-like Bailout mechanism for big Financial Institutions. This mechanism replaces the orderly process of Bankruptcy for failed Institutions and lets Government Bureaucrats arbitrarily pick winners and...