Introduction As debate in Washington continues over how (or whether) to pay for the latest infrastructure plan, someone will inevitably claim it will pay for itself. (1) Such optimism reflects the belief that government spending creates jobs and grows…
Two deadlines converge by coincidence this year. They are not related to one another and the precise consequences of failing to deal with them in a timely manner are different. Missing either of the deadlines, however, has the potential to…
Congress voted in February 2018 to again suspend the federal debt limit. On March 1, 2019, it went back into effect and was set at the level necessary to include all debt racked up prior to that date ($21.988 trillion). While…
The official federal budget process was established in 1974 by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act. The budget process begins in February, when the president is supposed to submit his plan to Congress after discussions with federal department…
Once again, federal lawmakers have turned to a familiar tactic to keep the government operating and delay significant decisions to a later date: the Continuing Resolution (CR), a stopgap measure that generally extends federal funding at current levels. The House…
Lawmakers ought to have an opportunity to vote on a common-sense proposal to shift the federal government to a biennial budgeting cycle before leaving town at the end of September, Concord Coalition Government Relations Director Phil LaRue writes this week.…