Brian Riedl
Brian Riedl
education programs room social threatened
Those who are advocates of anti-poverty programs, social programs, education, have their programs threatened by runaway entitlements. There won't be room for both.
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President Bush's pledge to halve the budget deficit by 2009 distracts policymakers from the real issue of unsustainable trends in long-term entitlement spending. The president's proposal to slow Medicare's 9% annual growth rate is a good fiscal step, but the budget does not propose enough immediate and bold reforms to the quickly growing entitlement programs that threaten to overwhelm the budget.
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It's symbolic progress for Congress to learn that they can terminate programs without the sky falling. Maybe they can come back next year and start terminating programs whose costs make a difference.
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NASA represents something important in the national psyche. Given that, there isn't a lot of hunger to cut NASA substantially, nor to cripple their ability to explore space.
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Why do they need special treatment to get a grant?
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There is no shortage of candidates for elimination. There is only the shortage of political will to make the difficult decisions.
children costs means passed
What that means is those costs are being passed down to our children - with interest.
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Montana is getting more highway pork, but so is every other state.
budgets federal program threatens
More than anything else, this one program threatens the long-term federal budget.
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Mike Pence has done a fabulous job leading the Republican Study Committee. They have put out a realistic and credible and specific budget proposal to get spending under control when virtually no one else is talking about it.
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There's so much investment capital out there for profitable new technologies. Investors are constantly looking for good ideas to invest in. If these ideas are as good as these companies say, they should have no problem, at minimum, finding a loan.
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The Senate is clearly dragging its feet on spending reform. Some senators have called for instead reversing the tax cuts.
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Director Portman will be inheriting the most dire long-term fiscal outlook we've ever had. The first baby boomers retire in 18 months, and the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid costs are set to explode. On top of that, he'll be dealing with a Congress that's absolutely addicted to runaway spending and pork!
congress continues cutting resist
Congress continues to resist cutting even one program.