House Republicans keep killing federal unemployment benefits because they cost taxpayer money. But they're now moving forward on six business-oriented tax credits that would cost far more than unemployment insurance. Why? "Growth..is the sure way to reduce deficits," says Eric Cantor.
The top Marine who last week told Congress that pay cuts were good for discipline apologized to his troops in a letter for "a mistaken impression that I don't care about your quality of life and that I support lower pay for servicemembers." He then dropped them all and demanded 20 pushups.
The "Let Me Google That For You Act" is a real bill wending its way through Congress now. It shutters a 50s-era agency that distributes government information that's mostly available for free online now. It could realize enough annual savings to buy 22 to 37 percent of one fighter jet.
Top Marine Says Pay Cuts Will Improve Discipline, Neck-Stomping Skills
Most military bigwigs might beg Congress not to reduce their troops' pay. But they're not the Marines' top enlisted man, who told a Senate panel to slash away Wednesday. His Marines could care less, he said, because they just "want to know into whose neck do we put a boot next."
McDonald's to Employees: Get a Second Job or Drop Dead
McDonald's is under fire this week for launching a "budget planner" for employees that can best be summed up with the following maxim: If you don't want to end up homeless and possibly dead, get yourself a second job.
Here's What's in Obama's No-Good, Horrible, Very Bad Budget
President Obama is announcing his proposed 2014 budget today, and judging from an overview provided by the White House (below), it's bound to piss off conservatives and progressives in near-equal measure. The $3.77 trillion planned budget includes the largest deficit cut in any year of Obama's tenure.
Senate Passes First Budget in Four Years
What have you not done for four years? Exercise? Visit your great-aunt? Pay taxes?
Obama Thinks Pennies Cost Too Much to Make; Romney Wonders, “What is a Penny?"
President and noted mixologist Barack Obama is looking to change the mix of metals that go into pennies and nickels, in an effort to produce the coins more cheaply.
Enjoy Hitting Your Spouse? Move to Topeka
The city of Topeka, Kansas, which is broke because it exists in America, maybe won't prosecute domestic battery anymore because those cases are too expensive. City officials want the county district attorney to handle them now. But the DA just said last month that he's not going to prosecute any misdemeanors committed…
Congress Reaches Agreement to Fight Again in November
Hurrah! Thanks to a bipartisan Senate agreement over disaster funds, government will not shut down at the end of the week! Instead, it will probably shut down in November.
After All That Yelling, NPR Gets Its Money
NPR—and the entire public broadcasting apparatus in general—has had a bad year. The botched Juan Williams firing, followed by the botched fallout from the Juan Williams firing, followed by the dumb James O'Keefe prank pseudocontroversy, followed by the resignation of NPR's CEO, mixed with constant calls from…
Obama Drops By Lincoln Memorial to Make Sure It's Still Open
Like many of us, President Obama woke up on Saturday morning not completely sure of what had happened the night before—had he averted a government shutdown? "There's only one way to make sure," Ax told him over the phone. "You have to go to the Lincoln Memorial and see if it's open."
Republican Negotiating Strategy Revealed
A congressional staff member sent us this snapshot from outside Rep. Sam Graves' (R - Mo.) office, taken around 10:15 p.m. as Congress wrapped up the final budget compromise. Note that we are not—absolutely not!—implying that Republican staffers were drunk during the up-to-the-wire negotiations! Just reckless and…
Budget Deal Reached, Government Shutdown Avoided
With just an hour to go before a midnight deadline, Democrats and Republicans reached a last-minute budget compromise tonight, averting a government shutdown that would have brought Washington to a standstill and furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal employees. The deal—which involves $39 billion in cuts but…
Republicans Prepare to Reject Final White House Budget Offer
It's been almost a week since House Republicans, Senate Democrats and the White House last sat down to hammer out a budget agreement, and the schedule's still blank. Accusations of bad faith are now flying from both sides. Republicans are poised to reject a White House offer, TPM has learned, that would cut over $30…
Government Will Work for at Least Two More Weeks
The House of Representatives passed a two-week stopgap spending measure, cutting (against Democratic objections) $4 billion in spending but—assuming passage of an identical measure in the Senate—averting a government shutdown until March 18. The White House had proposed a 30-day extension with $8 billion in cuts in…
Obama Wants to Cut Heat Aid to Poor in Half
National Journal's Mark Ambinder reports that President Obama's budget proposal—which hits the streets Monday—would cut federal heating assistance to the poor in half for the 2012 fiscal year. I know! Tragic! That's only $2.5 billion in cuts! We'll never teach our citizens about budget discipline at this rate!…
Congress Passes Bill to Fund Government for Three Months
Hey! Looks like we'll still have a government till March 4, at least.
Man Gives State of California $10,000 of His Own Free Will
As repayment for unemployment benefits he collected in 1964, retiree Dennis Ferguson is helping California close its "massive" deficit with a check made out to the state for $10,000. Just 2.5 million more old guys and they're all set!
Can You Fix the U.S. Budget Deficit?
The New York Times has created a nifty little online toy that allows you to create a plan to reduce the U.S. budget deficit, and see how much money it'll actually save. So, what's the secret?
