Speaking in Jackson Hole, Wyo., this morning, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke mentioned a number of further steps the central bank could take to ameliorate the dire economic straits the country is in. The second involved changing the Fed’s communications strategy.
During Utah’s bruising Republican Senate primary battle, challenger Mike Lee repeatedly attacked longtime incumbent Bob Bennett for his habit of requesting earmarks. But Lee also pledged to fight to keep NASA’s Constellation program — a big source of jobs in Utah — alive through congressional spending. Bennett tried in vain More…
BERLIN — President Obama’s push for additional economic stimulus is not just hitting a wall in Congress. The president has also been rebuffed by the largest European countries — with potentially profound consequences for the U.S. economy and Obama’s national agenda.
[Economy1] In the run-up to the G-20 summit in More…
Annie just noted that the national debt hit a (somewhat meaningless) milestone this week, topping $13 trillion yesterday. As a quick addendum, it’s worth pointing out which presidents are most responsible for running up the national tab. We’ll go back five. (All numbers come from the Treasury Department, More…
The National League of Cities, a nonprofit that represents 19,000 towns and cities with a combined population of 220 million, released a report indicating devastating local-government job and service cuts. In the 2010 State of America’s Cities survey, 63 percent of city officials say poverty has worsened in the More…
All that hand-wringing over California being the next Greece might not be for nothing. States are starting to report their April tax collections, and several have announced numbers far lower than expected even a few weeks ago, auguring bigger deficits and budget shortfalls for next year. The Wall Street More…
This morning, Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, senior House Republican on the Joint Economic Committee, wondered aloud why Democrats faced with the recent recession didn’t adopt the same policies favored by Ronald Reagan during the economic downturn nearly 30 years ago.
“President Reagan pursued pro-growth policies, including large reductions in marginal More…
Speaking this morning at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation’s fiscal summit, former President Bill Clinton forcefully argued that immigration reform is crucial to solving the country’s long-term deficit problem. Clinton, who said he had recently visited Arizona — whose governor last week signed a highly controversial and highly stringent More…
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) just named the latest members of the White House deficit commission: Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-S.C.), Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).
President Obama launched the panel last month after the Senate — behind More…
By any objective measure, the $138 billion in deficit savings the Democrats’ health reform bill would rack up over the next 10 years (while extending coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans) is quite an accomplishment — particularly coming from a Congress not exactly known for paying all its More…
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