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Congress Deserves Some Slack for the Appropriations Delay

Nov. 17, 12 a.m.

One of the things you learn quickly when you spend any time on Capitol Hill is that you never use the phrase “omnibus appropriation” in mixed company. In this case, “mixed company” means any group of people that includes a current or former Member or staffer of the House or Senate Appropriations committees.

Maybe the Next Budget Commission Should Meet in Philly

Nov. 10, 12 a.m.

We’re a month or so away from the moment when the Treasury says the federal debt ceiling will have to be raised. Even though the bill increasing the debt ceiling is the fiscal equivalent of a vestigial organ from the budget debates of at least a century ago, the Senate seems hellbent on demanding that, before it will approve the legislation, the House agree to create yet another commission that supposedly will put the United States on the road to fiscal redemption.

Like Wall Street, Budget Policymakers Need Certainty

Nov. 3, 12 a.m.

Wall Street, which supposedly hates uncertainty, was clearly unhappy late last week. On Thursday, in the face of a report showing not just that the economy had stopped declining but that it had actually grown faster than expected in the third quarter, the Dow Jones industrial average rallied by almost 200 points. Then, after a separate report on Friday showed that consumer spending had fallen by an unexpectedly large amount in that same quarter, the market sold off by more than the previous day’s gain as the Dow fell by about 250 points.

Wars and Health Care Reform Should Both Be Paid For

Oct. 27, 12 a.m.

The Washington Post ran a budget-related editorial on Saturday (“A critical question”) that attempted to explain why it insists that health care reform not increase the deficit even though it doesn’t believe that spending for activities in Iraq and Afghanistan have to be offset. The Post’s arguments weren’t just unconvincing, they also don’t make any sense.

2009 Deficit Is a Triumph of Fiscal Policy

Oct. 20, 12 a.m.

Despite the headlines and the page-one, right-hand column, above-the-fold stories in the New York Times and Washington Post on Saturday, I’m not at all upset about the 2009 federal budget deficit.

Time to Give Credit Where Due as Deficit Picture Brightens a Bit

Oct. 13, 12 a.m.

The Congressional Budget Office was much in the news Wednesday when its cost estimate showed that the health care bill being considered by the Senate Finance Committee would reduce rather than increase the deficit.

Playing With Deadline: No Answer to Annual Appropriations Mess

Oct. 6, 12 a.m.

“Why,” I was asked Thursday as fiscal 2010 began, “doesn’t Congress change the start of the federal fiscal year from Oct. 1 to Jan. 1 so that it has more time to adopt all appropriations?”

Waste Not, Want Not — but First Define Waste and Want

Sept. 29, 12 a.m.

Gallup released a poll two weeks ago that unwittingly but perfectly explains the ever-intractable politics of the federal budget. The poll, which was released Sept. 15, found that the average American believes that 50 cents of every tax dollar collected by the federal government is wasted.

Two Perennial Issues in the Budget Process Are About to Bloom

Sept. 22, 12 a.m.

We are at the point when two perennially discussed budget process changes will start to be a big topic in Washington, D.C. In the coming weeks, Capitol Hill, pundits of all political stripes and some in the blogosphere will likely advocate two proposals: an automatic continuing resolution and eliminating the need for legislated increases in the federal debt ceiling.

Lehman a Year Later: Some Lessons Learned, Others Yet to Sink In

Sept. 15, 12 a.m.

It was just about a year ago that I returned from a blissful trip in Yosemite National Park to find that the financial world had completely changed. While my friends and I were primarily focused on breathing and blisters and I was doing everything possible to avoid the news (I even covered my eyes as I walked past the boxes that displayed front pages), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were seized, Lehman Brothers failed, and credit markets froze.

What the Federal Budget Debate Did on Its Summer Vacation

Sept. 8, 12 a.m.

The federal budget debate returned from its summer vacation this week to find that this year’s deficit will be a bit smaller, the longer-term deficit will be higher, reconciliation is a little more of an issue now than it was when Congress left town for the August recess, and some people are saying we need to start reducing the deficit immediately.

Deficits for Clunkers: Did We Just Create a New Entitlement?

Aug. 4, 12 a.m.

Two news items last week once again drove home the extreme difficulty in doing anything about the federal budget deficit.

No Reason to Get Snarky About Delayed Mid-Session Review

July 28, 12 a.m.

The fury expressed by some over the White House’s decision to delay the release of the mid-session budget review until August was (and I’m being extremely kind) amusing.

Does the Government Need Financial Bailout Insurance?

July 21, 12 a.m.

I have come to the conclusion that the federal government needs to have some type of insurance for financial bailouts.

More Stimulus and Less Deficit: Together Again

July 14, 12 a.m.

For those of you who aren’t old enough to remember, and for everyone who hasn’t seen the smash Broadway musical “Jersey Boys,” Frankie Valli used to be the lead singer of a group called the Four Seasons. When the three other members of the group stopped performing, Valli hired new singers to fill out what was called Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. One of that group’s national tours was called “Together Again” even though they had never really been together before.

Let’s Decipher the ABCs of CBA, GRH and BEA

July 7, 12 a.m.

You don’t have to try very hard these days to get those involved in the federal budget process to talk about how it should be changed. Over the past few weeks there have been hearings and conferences devoted to that subject. Task forces and working groups have been studying ideas, developing their plans and drafting reports. And now that the president has proposed a new version of the sometimes admired but often maligned pay-as-you-go concept, it once again is being both highly recommended and heavily criticized.

PAYGO Is Just a Condiment, Not the Main Ingredient

June 23, 12 a.m.

The federal budget world has gone a little crazy the past few weeks over the president’s new pay-as-you-go proposal. Some immediately embraced it, as a person who hasn’t eaten in several days and is offered a bacon cheeseburger and fries might do. Others immediately and loudly decried it much like you might expect from a well-fed vegetarian being served that same cheeseburger with bacon. And, like an executive chef at a fine-dining restaurant who differs on the type of oil used to make the fries that go with the burger, still others had problems with some of the components of the administration’s PAYGO proposal.

Let He Who Is Without National Debt Sin Cast the First Stone

June 16, 12 a.m.

A small part of me is glad that bond market vigilantes are focused on the federal budget, the deficit and the national debt. Not caring about the amount that the government is borrowing would make bond traders far too much like the mortgage market that was willing to look the other way as no-doc, ninja (no income, no job or assets) and payment-option adjustable rate mortgage loans helped lead to the economic problems that we’re suffering through today.

The Bond Market Vigilantes Need to Chill Out

June 9, 12 a.m.

If you follow the federal budget, the story of Bill Clinton and the bond market has taken on almost mythical qualities.

It’s Time to Start Talking About the Budget Deficit

June 2, 12 a.m.

Note that the headline says “talking” rather than “doing” something about the federal budget deficit.

Fiscal Finger Food Adds Up to One Big Feast on the Budget

May 19, 12 a.m.

This is one of those weeks when there’s time to catch up on new developments on a few items that I’ve already written about and to deal with a few stories that so far haven’t been big enough to merit a column of their own. Think of it as budget tapas, a series of small portions that are not that filling by themselves but make a complete meal when eaten together.

Obama Is Turning! Turning! Turning! To the Blue Dogs

May 12, 12 a.m.

The lyrics are from the Bible, the music was written by Pete Seeger, and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” was a huge hit for the Byrds in 1965.

The Dawning of the Budget Age of Aquarius

May 5, 12 a.m.

Congress got far less fanfare than it deserved last week when it adopted the fiscal 2010 budget resolution. Not only was the budget resolution put in place surprisingly early in the year but, as opposed to its recent predecessors, it was adopted by very large margins in both chambers. Regardless of whether you like or dislike the policies that the budget resolution assumed, it was a triumph for Congress and the Obama administration, and the event deserved far more attention than it received.

The Three Tests for This Year’s Appropriations

April 28, 12 a.m.

It’s not even May but, believe it or not, it’s time to talk about appropriations. This may be something of a shock to anyone who has watched, analyzed or participated in the budget process over the past decade. In many of those years, Congress either didn’t try or completely failed to put a budget resolution in place and so had to jerry-rig the process to debate appropriations without violating the law.

Reconciliation for Health Care Should Not Be an Issue

April 21, 12 a.m.

How is it possible that the part of the Congressional budget process designed to bring people together and create closure is creating so much angst and leaving so much up in the air this year?