Budget

Wednesday Evening News Roundup

Posted on: April 10th, 2013 by ecthompsonmd 2 Comments

 

News Roundup

Did I read that the Obama administration is agreeing to Social Security cuts? I just don't understand what the administration is doing. Craziness on a grand scale. Liberals have been replaced by conservative Republicans!!!! AAuugghhh....

From Robert Reich:

Sure, March’s employment report was a big disappointment. But it’s hard to see any direct connection between those poor job numbers and the sequester. The government  has been shedding jobs for years. Most of the losses in March were from the Postal Service.

Take a closer look, though, and Americans are starting to feel the pain. They just don’t know it yet.

That’s because so much of what the government does affects the nation in local, decentralized ways. Federal funds find their way to community housing authorities, state unemployment offices, local school districts, private universities, and companies. So it’s hard for most Americans to know the sequester is responsible for the lost funding, lost jobs, or just plain inconvenience.

A tiny sampling: Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts is bracing for a cut of about $51 million in its $685 million of annual federal research grants and contracts. The public schools of Syracuse, New York, will lose over $1 million. The housing authority of Joliet, Illinois, will take a hit of nearly $900,000. Northrop Grumman Information Systems just issued layoff notices to 26 employees at its plant in Lawton, Oklahoma. Unemployment benefits are being cut in Pennsylvania and Utah. (more...)

From Steve:

On the Korean Peninsula: "American and South Korean troops increased alert levels on Wednesday as South Korea's foreign minister warned that North Korea could launch its medium-range Musudan missile 'any time from now.'" U.S. defense officials are also "highly confident" that North Korea is planning the imminent launch of a medium-range missile.

Now that there's a bipartisan agreement on key elements of the gun-safety legislation, will Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) drop his filibuster threat and allow the Senate to debate the issue? Of course not.... Read More →

Sequester, Bob Woodward And Other Craziness

Posted on: March 1st, 2013 by ecthompsonmd 4 Comments

 

So, we are in the post-sequestered era. What happens now?

Bob Woodward

First of all, let's deal with the craziness. The Obama administration has been accused of threatening legendary journalist Bob Woodward. I think that this falls into one of the common themes facing Barack Obama – he's from Chicago. Because Barack Obama's from Chicago he must be part of the Chicago, "rough-and-tumble" political machine. Yet, we've seen no evidence that Barack Obama plays politics this way (well, it may be an overstatement to say that we see no evidence). Personally, I doubt that the Obama administration has threatened any journalist, let alone Bob Woodward. it appears that the truth is that the superficial political website, Politico, is playing this up in order to drive hits to their website. It is probably also true that Bob Woodward is playing this up in order to drive book sales. The fact that he went on Fox News' Hannity, where the discussion turned from this latest flap to Sean Hannity's favorite topic, Bill Ayers, says everything that needs to be said.

What has been lost in the sequester flap is that the sequester has started. Across-the-board spending cuts are going into effect starting today. The spending cuts will have real consequences.

From the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities:

  • The roughly 3.8 million long-term unemployed workers receiving federally funded unemployment benefits will face nearly 11 percent cut in their weekly benefits, according to the Administration. This will translate into a cut of roughly $130 per month for jobless workers.
  • As we explain in a new paper, the WIC nutrition program for low-income pregnant women, infants, and young children will have to turn away an estimated 600,000 to 775,000 women and children, including very young children, by the end of this fiscal year.
  • We estimate that more than 100,000 low-income families will likely lose housing vouchers.

More later.

Wednesday Evening News Roundup

Posted on: January 9th, 2013 by ecthompsonmd

 

Wednesday Evening News Roundup

Yesterday, I mentioned that last year was the second warmest year on record. Australia is simply baking this year.

I would like to spend a little time talking about an idea that was floated over at Pragmatic Capitalism over a year ago. As you recall, about a year ago we had the showdown at the OK Corral (well, it was really Congress) over the debt ceiling. The Republicans were determined to cut spending at all costs. If it meant taking the economy, so be it. If it meant taking the world economy, that was a price that many Republicans thought was worth paying. So, another debt ceiling is looming on the horizon. We have the treasury secretary telling us when we're going to run out of money (basically within weeks if Congress does not act). Now, comes this idea, which has been talked about on several blogs (here and here). Why doesn't the treasury print a $1 trillion coin and then march that coin over to the Federal Reserve and deposit the coin? The treasury doesn't need Congress's permission to print the coin. Since our money is not tethered to something tangible like gold, there's no reason we can't do this. The idea sounded half-baked until Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said it wasn't a bad idea. In my opinion, we need to avoid the constant threat of government shutdown and default. We need for all members of Congress to begin to act like adults instead of spoiled brats. Governing is about compromise. Governing is not about jumping up and down and stomping your feet like a four-year-old in the middle of a massive tantrum. I am for any solution that avoids economic uncertainty and promotes job growth here in the United States. If that solution means we need to print a $1 trillion coin then I'm all for it. (Oh, don't get distracted by some of the craziness that I've heard from conservatives over the last 24 hours. Someone has decided to confuse the American public by saying we have to print a coin that is actually worth $1 trillion and would therefore have to be the size of an ocean liner. The logic is stupid. Currently we print coins and money that are clearly not worth their face value. A $100 bill is not made up of a hundred dollars' worth of paper. A $1000 bill is clearly not made up worth of a thousand dollars' worth of paper and ink. Ignore this bit of stupidity.)... Read More →

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