Must-Reads
Feb 14 2012
Republicans Accuse Obama of Using Gimmicks in Budget
By: Jonathan Weisman
At the heart of Republican objections is accounting. Mr. Obama boasted of $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years in his proposal. Republican budget writers on Capitol Hill saw a fraction of that, as little as $300 billion... if Congress and the president did nothing but continue current policies, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee, sai...
Feb 08 2012
Frustrated GOP freshmen target gimmicks that make it hard to cut the budget
By: Lori Montgomery
"Concord [Coalition] and other bipartisan budget groups have praised some of the Republican reform proposals, particularly a package known as the Honest Budget Act that was drafted by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and sponsored in the House by 27 GOP freshmen."
Nov 23 2011
Sen. Sessions’s analysis: Defense cut far more than other programs under sequestration
By: Pete Kasperowicz
According to Sessions’s analysis, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and income-support programs such as unemployment insurance would be nearly untouched by sequestration — compared to President Obama’s budget plan — even after cuts to planned spending. These programs would grow 112 percent, 73 percent, 66 percent and 11 percent, respectively, under the sequestration, about the same as they grew ...
Oct 05 2011
Not the Right Way to Run a Railroad
By: Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Gordon Gray
Enter the new(ish) ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, Jeff Sessions, and the Honest Budget Act. The Act is a serious attempt to wade into the budget process to address the fundamental flaws that have allowed Congress to avoid the difficult trade-offs that are the essence of governing in a fiscally constrained environment.
Sep 26 2011
$200K Per Job? Timothy Geithner Says White House Jobs Plan Is Still a Bargain
By: Ben Forer
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner didn't dispute a Harvard economist's estimate that each job in the White House's jobs plan would cost $200,000, but said the pricetag is the wrong way to measure the bill's worth.
Sep 20 2011
FACT CHECK: Are rich taxed less than secretaries?
By: Stephen Ohlemacher
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says he wants to make sure millionaires are taxed at higher rates than their secretaries. The data say they already are.
Sep 09 2011
Employers Say Jobs Plan Won’t Lead to Hiring Spur
By: Motoko Rich
The dismal state of the economy is the main reason many companies are reluctant to hire workers, and few executives are saying that President Obama’s jobs plan — while welcome — will change their minds any time soon.