Budget

US Military Faces a Crisis and Needs More Money, Report to Congress Warns

By Yuval Rosenberg

America’s military superiority “has eroded to a dangerous degree,” leaving the national security “at greater risk than at any time in decades,” a bipartisan commission warned Wednesday in a...
The Cost of Post-9/11 Wars Nears $6 Trillion

By Yuval Rosenberg

The total cost of post-9/11 wars will approach $6 trillion by the end of fiscal 2019, according to an annual report published Wednesday by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at...
Deficit Hit $100 Billion in October

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The U.S. government spent $353 billion in October while revenues came in at $253 billion, producing a deficit of $100 billion. Receipts were 7 percent higher than a year ago, but spending was up 18...
The Pentagon's $21 Billion Rust Problem

By The Fiscal Times Staff

“Rust costs the Pentagon more money annually than many of its most expensive weapons systems—up to $21 billion per year, according to a Defense Department-commissioned audit released in March,” Next...
Trump Wants to Cut Off Hurricane Maria Relief Funds for Puerto Rico: Report

By Michael Rainey

President Donald Trump reportedly wants to stop providing federal relief funds to Puerto Rico for recovery efforts related to Hurricane Maria. Axios’ Jonathan Swan reports that Trump is convinced – “...

Chart of the Day: How Taxes and Transfers Affect US Incomes

By Michael Rainey

A new analysis of the distribution of household income by the Congressional Budget Office shows how taxes and means-tested transfers such as Medicaid and food stamps affect US incomes. “The combined...
Improving Odds for the Farm Bill

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The Farm Bill has been held up by a dispute over new work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, among other issues. House Republicans passed a bill that includes...
Build That Wall? The Next Budget Battle Ahead

By Michael Rainey

Congress reconvenes for a lame-duck session next week and funding for President Trump’s border wall with Mexico will be front and center as lawmakers turn to unsettled budget items for the current...
Fiscal Mayhem Ahead in 2019 — and 5 Other Takes on the Election Results

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Prepare for budget mayhem: “The budget bottom line is simple: Senate Republicans will have a very different fiscal agenda than House Democrats, and both houses’ tax and spending to-do lists will be...
What Should Democrats Do Now That They’ve Won the House?

By Michael Rainey

With Democrats winning control of the House Tuesday, political experts are lining up to give advice on what they should do with their new powers. While there’s little chance of enacting significant...

How GOP Rhetoric on Entitlements Has Changed

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The Washington Post’s David Weigel describes how Republicans have changed their tune on Medicare and, for this year at least, largely abandoned the idea of entitlement reform: “[O]ver eight years,...
How the Army ‘Found’ $25 Billion

By Michael Rainey

The U.S. Army has been combing through its existing programs to identify potential sources of funding that can be applied to its ambitious modernization program, and according to Army Secretary Mark...
529 Plans Are Growing — and So Is Their Cost to the Government

By Yuval Rosenberg

Education savings accounts called 529 plans have grown dramatically since 2010, both in terms of the number of accounts and total assets, according to research by The Pew Charitable Trusts . And they...
The Post-Election Outlook: ‘Debt, Debt and More Debt’

By Yuval Rosenberg

The 2018 elections are looking like a lose-lose proposition for the U.S. bond market, according to Bloomberg’s Liz McCormick and Alex Harris : “If Democrats take the House, it raises the odds that...
The Pentagon’s $71 Billion Fiscal Cliff

By Yuval Rosenberg

Late last month, President Trump signed into law a $670 billion defense spending bill for fiscal 2019. Now, Travis J. Tritten writes in the Washington Examiner , the fight over the next such bill is...