Budget

Trump Blasts ‘Ridiculous’ Spending Bill: Is a Shutdown Back on the Table?

By Michael Rainey

President Trump on Thursday blasted the spending bill passed by the Senate earlier this week for its lack of funding for his border wall with Mexico. The bill is a key part of the congressional...
Spending Bills Leave Conservatives Frustrated

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Lawmakers have been passing spending bills with unusual speed and little fanfare lately, most recently the $854 billion package covering the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Labor...
Senate Approves Spending Bill, Reducing Chances of a Shutdown

By Yuval Rosenberg

In a 93-7 vote, the Senate on Tuesday passed a package of spending bills that would boost fiscal 2019 funding for the Defense Department and provide full-year funding for the departments of Education...
‘Beware Trillion-Dollar Deficits,’ Barron’s Says

By Yuval Rosenberg

In the latest Barron’s cover story, Jack Hough warns of the long-term risks of rising U.S. public debt. While noting that there’s little chance of hitting debt-related turbulence anytime soon and...
The Air Force Wants More Planes – and a Lot More Money

By Michael Rainey

The Air Force is 71 years old today, and its birthday wish list is a doozy. Saying that growing threats from China and Russia call for a substantial increase in U.S. air power, Air Force Secretary...

Kudlow: ‘I Don’t Buy’ That Tax Cuts Boosted Deficit

By Yuval Rosenberg

Larry Kudlow is at it again. Speaking at the Economic Club of New York, the top economic adviser to President Trump said that, while the administration is looking to cut federal spending — including...
Are Deficit Hawks Dead or Just Playing Possum?

By Yuval Rosenberg

“The deficits hawks are dead,” declared Paul Kane, The Washington Post’s senior congressional correspondent and columnist, in a piece over the weekend. It’s easy to see why Kane says that, and there’...
Social Security Pulled 27 Million People Out of Poverty in 2017

By Michael Rainey

Since 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau has produced a more sophisticated measure of poverty that, among other things, includes the income effects of government assistance programs such as Social Security...
Arkansas Drops Thousands from Medicaid

By Michael Rainey

More than 4,000 people will lose their Medicaid coverage in Arkansas for failing to meet the state’s new work requirements. Earlier this year, the Trump administration approved the new work rules,...
Why Democrats Want to Bring Back Earmarks

By Michael Rainey

Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) wants to restore earmarks as part of Democrats’ effort to “ fix government ” should the party win control of the House in November. The use of earmarks — funds for...

Congress Reaches Spending Deal to Avoid Shutdown. Will Trump Go Along?

By Yuval Rosenberg

Congressional leaders have struck a bipartisan deal to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month and put off a divisive fight over funding for President Trump’s border wall with Mexico...
Is Joe Scarborough Right About the GOP and the National Debt?

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Former GOP congressman and current Trump antagonist Joe Scarborough laid into the president and his party this week, finding fault with, among other things, their track record on deficit spending. "...
‘Things Are So Much Worse’ – but Does Anyone Care About the Deficit?

By Yuval Rosenberg

As we told you yesterday , the Congressional Budget Office estimated this week that the deficit for the first 11 months of fiscal 2018 totaled $895 billion, or $222 billion more than it was over the...
Pharma CEO: It's a 'Moral Requirement' to Raise Prices

By Michael Rainey

Nostrum Laboratories, a small pharmaceutical firm based in Missouri, raised the price of the antibiotic nitrofurantoin from $474.75 to $2,392 a bottle last month. Here is how the CEO, Nirmal Mulye,...
Charging Almost $200 for a Bottle of Pills Worth $6

By Yuval Rosenberg

Bloomberg’s Robert Langreth, David Ingold and Jackie Gu take a fascinatingly detailed look at the “secret drug pricing system” that generates millions of dollars for pharmacy benefit managers,...