Its only just begun, new budget due in exactly 2 months

[Remodeling Maidiac]

We didn't get much if any cuts now but the budget battle should be firing up in a couple weeks. Will be interesting to see if this ends up the same. I expect the realization of this is giving Obama a major migraine. I wonder if Reid will actually pass a budget this year?

On a side note I heard all the msm and msnbc call republicans terrorists. They won't even call terrorists, terrorists. Pathetic....

 

[Wiseacre]

All those appropriations bills, yeah the fun is just starting.

 

[Moonglow]

looks like in 10 more months they will get around to signing the budget into law.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

looks like in 10 more months they will get around to signing the budget into law.

If then.

 

[Screaming Eagle]

They're going to start doing budgets again? But those are so arcane.

 

[waltky]

The budget deficit just keeps rollin' on...

Deficit Averaged $110 Billion Per Month So Far in 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011 – The federal deficit averaged $110 billion per month through the first 10 months of fiscal year 2011, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) latest budget review.

The figure comes from the CBO’s monthly budget review, which tracks federal spending and revenue levels as they come in. The most recent review, released Aug. 5, showed that through July the federal deficit was $1.1 trillion – averaging out to $110 billion per month over the 10 months since October 2010 – the start of fiscal year 2011. (Fiscal year 2011 began on Oct. 1, 2010 and ends on Sept. 30, 2011.) That figure is down slightly from last year’s $1.2 trillion 10-month deficit, due mainly to increased tax revenue and lower-than-expected federal outlays.

“The federal budget deficit was about $1.1 trillion in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2011, CBO estimates—$66 billion less than the roughly $1.2 trillion deficit incurred through July 2010. Revenues were about 8 percent higher than they were at the same point last year, whereas outlays rose by less than 3 percent,” the CBO said. In fact, the average 10-month deficit obscures the real July deficit, which was higher than the $110 billion average at $132 billion. That deficit was roughly $33 billion less than last year’s July deficit, but was caused mostly by deferred government payments.

Those deferred government payments were most likely the result of the financial maneuvering required to avoid hitting the debt ceiling over the summer, before Congress raised it in August. “Much of that difference occurred because there were shifts in the timing of certain payments in 2010; adjusted for those shifts, the deficit in July 2011 was $4 billion less than the shortfall in July 2010,” stated the CBO. Tax receipts edged up in July, largely because tax refunds were smaller, meaning that the government got to keep more money than it usually does, approximately $3 billion worth, according to CBO. Income tax withholdings were also higher than normal – by about $1 billion – reflecting an increase in incomes.

Overall, the government spent $75 billion more through July 2011 than it did over the same 10-month period last year. Absent the deferred spending and that $75 billion more accounted for a 1.9 percent increase in spending so far in fiscal year 2011. That increase was driven by a combination of higher entitlement spending, higher interest payments, and the continuing costs of the TARP bailout program, the CBO reported.

Source

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Wow heres a flash from the past

 

[waltky]

Granny says if dis keeps up, we all gonna be broke...

Budget deficit slips to $1.28T; red ink continues
Aug 24,`11 WASHINGTON (AP) - After months of unrelieved gloom and discord, Congress and President Barack Obama are starting to make a dent in the federal budget deficit. It's projected to shrink slightly to $1.28 trillion this year, and bigger savings from this month's debt ceiling deal are forecast over the next decade.

No one's celebrating. There will be plenty of red ink for years to come. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected Wednesday that annual budget deficits will be reduced by a total of $3.3 trillion over the next decade, largely because of the deficit reduction package passed by Congress earlier this month. The office also forecast persistently high unemployment, a troubling political prospect for President Barack Obama in the crucial months of his campaign to win a second term.

Even with the anticipated big savings, annual budget deficits are expected to total nearly $3.5 trillion over the next decade - and much more if Bush-era tax cuts scheduled to expire at the end of next year are extended. In all, nearly $8.5 trillion would be added to the national debt over the next 10 years if the tax cuts and certain spending programs are kept in place, the budget office report said. The national debt now stands at more than $14.6 trillion.

The numbers help illustrate the urgency facing a new joint committee in Congress that is charged with finding $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion in budget savings over the next decade. Some lawmakers are calling for an even bigger package, a tall order given the bitter debate that produced this month's debt deal. "CBO's report is yet more evidence that Congress faces a twin challenge of a sluggish near-term economy and a still very serious long-term debt threat," said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. "Congress cannot afford to ignore either challenge."

Deficits could be even larger if CBO's economic forecast, which is more optimistic than private projections, proves to be too rosy. The agency doesn't foresee another recession but modest economic growth over the next few years. And it expects the unemployment rate to fall only slightly, to 8.5 percent in the last three months of 2012, and staying above 8 percent through the following year. "A great deal of the pain of this economic downturn still lies ahead of us," said CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf. Democratic leaders say the report shows the need for programs and policies aimed at creating jobs. Republicans say the report is an indictment of Obama's economic policies.

MORE

See also:

80 percent of U.S. lawmakers have no academic background in business or economics
8/23/11 - Almost 80 percent of lawmakers have no academic background in business or economics, even as Congress grapples with deficits, unemployment and other economic issues of tremendous complexity, according to an independent analysis released Tuesday.

The Employment Policies Institute (EPI) found that only 8.4 percent of lawmakers majored in economics or a related field, while just 13.7 percent studied topics related to business or accounting. "This research suggests that our elected Representatives may want to dust off their Econ 101 textbook (if they have one) before trying to tackle weighty questions about the impact of taxes, spending, and debt on our economy and the labor market," EPI's release warns. Most Capitol Hill lawmakers (55.7 percent) focused their studies on government, law or the humanities, EPI found, while 11.5 percent majored in science- or technology-related fields.

The report arrives as Congress continues to joust over deficit reduction, spending cuts, tax reform, and the role of the federal government in pulling the country out of a prolonged jobs crisis. Republicans argue that the size of government – combined with enormous levels of federal spending – have contributed both to the recent recession and the slow pace in pulling out of it. They want to cut taxes, slash spending and scale back regulations they say are strangling private sector job creators. Democrats, on the other hand, see the government playing an active role in bolstering the economy. They're pushing proposals designed to create jobs by increasing infrastructure spending, lending a lifeline to states and hiking taxes on corporations that outsource jobs.

Michael Saltsman, a researcher at EPI, was quick to concede that the lack a formal background in economics or business does not automatically preclude lawmakers from making informed choices about economic policy. "There are plenty of people who have done it well," Saltsman said. But given the intricacy of the economic issues lawmakers are tackling this year, a formal introduction to those topics "would certainly help them to evaluate these things better," Saltsman added.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Time runnin' out an' no funding for 2012...

With 24 Days Left in Fiscal Year 2011, Congress Has Passed Zero Funding Bills
Tuesday, September 06, 2011 – While the federal fiscal year for 2011 ends on Sept. 30 – 24 days from now -- Congress has yet to pass a single appropriations bill for fiscal year 2012, which starts on Oct. 1. Not one appropriations bill has been sent to the president to sign into law.

The House of Representatives has passed six appropriations bills – for agriculture, defense, energy, homeland security, congressional spending, and veterans affairs – while the Senate has passed only one – veterans affairs. The veterans affairs appropriations bill, which funds the Department of Veterans Affairs and military pensions and health care, has not been passed by the full Congress despite being approved by both chambers.

The House-passed appropriations bills have languished in the Senate since mid-summer when they passed in the House. The House also has yet to pass three appropriations bills through its legislative process. Appropriations bills for financial services, commerce justice and science, and interior and environmental services have passed their respective House committees, but have not yet passed the full House through a floor vote.

The House also has yet to introduce two appropriations bills – labor and education and State Department and foreign operations -- but is scheduled to do so before the end of the fiscal year. The Senate has not introduced any of its own appropriations bills so far but is scheduled to introduce two of its own appropriations bills for homeland security and energy on Sept. 6, but has not taken action on any of the House-passed appropriations bills. It also has plans to send an agriculture appropriations bill to the floor on Sept. 7.

With 24 Days Left in Fiscal Year 2011, Congress Has Passed Zero Funding Bills | CNSnews.com

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

How is talks of congress passing a budget does not belong in politics? Mod, whoever you are, don't you find it odd that we are nearly out of time to pass a 2012 budget? And that's not worthy of debate?

 

[Seawytch]

Reagan would have raised taxes by now...

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Ya can't balance the budget when ya's in debt by spendin' mo' money, dem goofy politicians gonna push dis country over the brink...

House GOP Likely to Offer Balanced Budget Amendment That Permits Unlimited Federal Spending
November 10, 2011 – House Republicans appear likely to votes sometime next week on a balanced budget amendment (BBA) that would allow unlimited federal spending and would not require a supermajority in both houses of Congress to raise taxes.

Many conservatives have argued that such an amendment--that does not cap spending as a percentage of GDP--is a formula for bigger government and higher taxes. In a statement to CNSNews.com, Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s (R-Va.) spokeswoman Kathryn Rexrode said that Goodlatte, author of two versions of a BBA, “supports the strongest balanced budget amendment that can pass the Congress.”

“Congressman Goodlatte introduced both H.J. Res 1 and H.J. Res 2 on the opening day of the 112th Congress,” she said. “He has long been a champion of a balanced budget amendment and is pleased to have such strong support for his efforts. Congressman Goodlatte supports the strongest balanced budget amendment that can pass the Congress.” Rexrode pointed out that for a BBA to pass it must gain Democratic support, saying that a version – H.J. Res. 2 – that did not cap spending or require supermajorities to raise taxes, nonetheless had strong taxpayer protections.

“At this point it has not been announced which version of the balanced budget amendment will be considered by the full House but one thing is for sure, for a balanced budget amendment to pass it must be bipartisan,” Rexrode said. “H.J. Res 2 contains strong protections to ensure that the federal government doesn’t spend more than it takes in on an annual basis.” H.J. Res. 2 does not cap spending as a percent of GDP or require a supermajority (3/5ths vote in House and Senate) to pass tax increases. H.J. Res 1 requires the supermajority and would cap federal spending at 18 percent of GDP. Rexrode’s statement did not say which version Goodlatte or other Republicans favor.

MORE

 

[Wiseacre]

The democrats will not pass a budget in the Senate so that Obama can run against a do-nothing Congress, specifically the repubs. Won't matter that many dems won't vote for his crap either, they'll blame it on the GOP. Won't matter that the House has passed many bills that languish in the Senate.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

The democrats in the super committee will not negotiate because the tax hikes and defense cuts that kick in automatically are all they care about.