Now that Congress is back in session, the first item on the agenda is to avoid another recession by softening the ramifications of looming tax increases and spending cuts. The second order of business is the unsustainable long-run debt trajectory. Whenever the debt trajectory is discussed, various versions of the same grand bargain are always brought up. Though even if [...]
As a current events enthusiast with a special affinity for fiscal policy, I’ve come across the semi comical phrase “fiscal cliff” quite a few times over the past several months. Odds are this particular term will continue to trend in weeks to come, especially as President Obama and congressional leaders, in a rare display of bipartisanship, try to avoid the [...]
The Spirit of Compromise: Why Governing Demands It and Campaigning Undermines It by Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson Princeton University Press, 2012, $24.95 Gutmann and Thompson begin their second chapter with an interview between John Boehner and Lesley Stahl, in which the Speaker and Stahl play hot-potato with the word “compromise:” Stahl: Why won’t you say [compromise]—you’re afraid of the [...]
S. 132: The Criminal Justice and Forensic Science Reform Act of 2011 would establish much-needed national forensic science standards. It would allow the Department of Justice to certify forensic science labs and practitioners. It would give the DOJ authority to identify what actually qualifies as “forensic science” and establish standards regarding experts, testimony, and use of evidence. Of course, the [...]
Earlier this evening, Speaker John Boehner announced that House Republicans will support a two-month extension of the payroll tax cuts. With a call for a final vote Friday morning, Boehner and the GOP leadership have abandoned their current push for a one-year extension of the cuts in order to pass the stopgap provision and end the political battle in time [...]
Last Thursday was the 220th anniversary of the signing of the Bill of Rights. Congress, apparently feeling that 220 years was a nice round number, decided that this would be the perfect time to repudiate most of the basic principles that document embodies. This rather impressive feat was achieved through the National Defense Authorization Act, of which you can get [...]
Adam presents: The Adventures of Supercommittee! Disguised as the mild-mannered Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the Supercommittee in fact has powers far greater than normal subgroups of legislators. Charged with cutting $1.2 trillion from the deficit, the Supercommitte is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall legislative hurdles in a single bound, [...]
As far back as November President Obama was aware that Congress was going to have to raise the debt ceiling. It’s anyone’s guess why he thought it better to wait until the 112th Congress was seated in January, but he did. He was rewarded with weeks of grueling negotiations resulting in a deal passed by Congress on the final day [...]
With less than two days to go, Congress and the White House have moved in an expected direction on the debt crisis talks, producing few surprises along the way. On Friday night, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)’s version of the debt limit bill finally passed in the House on a 218-210 party-line vote, with no Democrats voting “aye” and 22 [...]
We have arrived at crunch time. In 100 hours (give or take), the United States will no longer have money to pay the bills. Will the gas get shut off? Will we get harassing phone calls from China, Brazil, and Japan? No one quite knows. In an attempt to not find out, politicians in Washington, D.C., have been frantically negotiating, [...]
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