With home sales sliding, employers reluctant to hire and world stock markets gyrating wildly, the U.S. economy is in danger of stalling. Now one of its only reliable sources of fuel is running out: federal stimulus spending. (more)
Congress is once again considering President Obama’s request for yet another economic stimulus package. Meanwhile, the jury is still out as to the efficacy of the earlier stimulus spending passed by a spend-happy Congress. (more)
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told the House Budget Committee that a continued increase in consumer spending and business investment should make up for a fading government stimulus in lifting the economy. (more)
If a meteorologist was asked what the day’s high temperature had been, would it be acceptable to simply repeat his/her earlier forecast? Of course not. The forecast was merely a prediction, which should now be replaced with what actually happened. (more)
The Treasury Department released its monthly budget statement this afternoon and the results aren’t pretty. The federal government ran up its largest-ever monthly deficit in February at $220.9 billion, a 14 percent increase from a year ago. (more)
When Texas families find themselves financially over their heads, they probably don’t think that spending more money will get them out of the red. Of course not. That defies common sense. All across this country, Americans have been making tough choices as they get their financial houses in order. For some, this means holding off on buying that new appliance or eating at home more often instead of going out to dinner. Meanwhile, the Democrats in Washington have loosened their belts and asked for dessert! (more)
When Congress allocated $5 billion of the $787 billion stimulus for weatherization of low-income homes — once known as “insulation”— Texas made a big promise in order to get its fair share of the pie. Very big: The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, which prior to the Obama administration had an annual weatherization budget of $13 million, committed to spending $327 million in stimulus funds to weatherize 56,000 homes by 2012. (more)
The Congressional Budget Office hiked its forecast Tuesday for how much the stimulus bill will add to the nation’s deficit, raising its estimate by $75 billion to $862 billion. (more)
The White House’s proposal to freeze discretionary spending at the civil agencies was slammed from both sides Tuesday with conservatives tabbing it a meaningless gesture while liberals argued the president is overreacting to GOP Senator-elect Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts last week. (more)
The blogosphere has been buzzing with a debate on whether America or Europe is more prosperous. A partial list of contestants includes Jim Manzi, Paul Krugman, Matt Welch, Megan McArdle, Matthew Yglesias, and Tino (don’t know who he is, but his blog has lots of good info). (more)
When policies fail to reach their stated goal, just move the goal posts. That is the obvious lesson of the new report from the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) claiming that last year’s stimulus bill created or saved somewhere between 1.5 and 2 million jobs. (more)
When I was first elected to Congress in 1992, I ran on a platform of support for the Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. I was concerned that absent Constitutional restraint, the Congress would spend the country into bankruptcy. (more)
Abstract: Despite decades of repeated failure, President Obama and Congress continue to promote the myth that government can spend its way out of recession. Heritage Foundation economic policy expert Brian Riedl dispels the stimulus myth, lays out the evidence that government spending does not end recessions–and presents the evidence for what does end recessions. Hint: It’s not another “stimulus package.” (more)
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