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Deficit

(J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/The Associated Press) A statue of a contemplative Benjamin Franklin overlooks the empty hallways of Congress as the deadline of the deficit Supercommittee approaches with no expectations for success, Sunday morning at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 20, 2011. On various talk shows Sunday, Democrats and Republicans on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction exchanged blame for the a deepening impasse that has all but doomed chances for an accord.

Bush tax cut debate dooms deal to cut deficit

Last updated Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - 10:18am

WASHINGTON — A long-running war between Democrats and Republicans over Bush-era tax cuts doomed the debt supercommittee’s chances of reaching a deal. Efforts to overhaul the tax code may await the same fate as both parties gear up to make taxes a central issue in 2012 elections.

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(J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/The Associated Press) Supercommittee co-chairs Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, left, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., right, confer as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction meets to hear testimony about the national debt from the Congressional Budget Office director on Capitol Hill in Washington. Failure by Congress’ debt-cutting supercommittee to recommend $1.2 trillion in savings by Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, is supposed to automatically trigger spending cuts in the same amount to accomplish that job. But the same legislators who concocted that budgetary booby trap just four months ago could end up spending the 2012 election year and beyond battling over defusing it.

Congress may try blocking cuts if debt panel fails

Alan Fram The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, November 21, 2011 - 8:37am

WASHINGTON — Failure by Congress’ debt-cutting supercommittee to recommend $1.2 trillion in savings by Wednesday is supposed to automatically trigger spending cuts in the same amount to accomplish that job.

Budget, Budget cuts, Congress, Debt commission, Deficit, Supercommittee, National Read more Comments

(J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/The Associated Press) Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., arrives for a meeting with bi-partisan members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, often called the Supercommittee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011.

Deficit deal failure would pose crummy choice

Andrew Taylor The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, November 19, 2011 - 5:57pm

WASHINGTON — If the deficit-cutting supercommittee fails, Congress will face a crummy choice. Lawmakers can allow payroll tax cuts and jobless aid for millions to expire or they extend them and increase the nation’s $15 trillion debt by at least $160 billion.

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(J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE)/The Associated Press) Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, is seen following a Republican strategy session at the Capitol, Tuesday morning in Washington, Nov. 15, 2011. With the Supercommittee at an impasse and only eight days until the Nov. 23 deadline, Boehner met behind closed doors with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Democrats, Republicans far apart on deficit deal

Andrew Taylor The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - 8:45am

WASHINGTON — The top Republican on a special deficit-cutting panel says GOP negotiators have “gone as far as we feel we can go” on tax hikes, a public signal that a debt bargain could be out of reach despite weeks of negotiations.

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(J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/The Associated Press) In this July 26, 2011 file photo, then-Joint Chiefs Chairman-nominee, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey testifies on Capitol Hill before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Republicans and Democrats alike are signaling a willingness — unheard of at the height of two post-Sept. 11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — to make military retirees pay more for coverage. The Pentagon’s health care costs have have skyrocketed from $19 billion in 2001 to $53 billion, daunting numbers for a military focused on building and arming an all-volunteer force for war.

Lawmakers open to changes in military benefits

Donna Cassata The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, October 22, 2011 - 3:57pm

WASHINGTON — The government’s promise of lifetime health care for the military’s men and women is suddenly a little less sacrosanct as Congress looks to slash trillion-dollar-plus deficits.

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(EVAN VUCCI/The Associated Press) President Barack Obama walks from the Oval Office to the the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011, to talk about deficit reduction.

Obama’s health care cuts spread the pain

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 7:28am

WASHINGTON — Health care savings in President Barack Obama’s deficit-reduction plan would squeeze future Medicare recipients, cut payments to drug companies and hospitals, and shift costs to states.

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Bishop tackles issues at Top of Utah meetings

Antone Clark Standard-Examiner

Last updated Thursday, September 1, 2011 - 11:21pm

FARMINGTON -- The debate in Congress has turned from how much can we spend to how much can we cut, but U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said Thursday it will take more than a balanced budget amendment to fix the burgeoning federal deficit.

Business, Events, Budget, Congress, Deficit, Immigration law, Jobs, Libya, Libya unrest, Meeting, Rep. Bob Bishop, Rep. Rob Bishop, Republican Party, Republicans, Taxes, Town hall meeting, Unemployment, Utah, Immigration Read more Comments

Businesses to Congress: Stop the politics, fix the deficit

David Lightman, Kevin G. Hall, McClatchy Newspapers

Last updated Thursday, April 21, 2011 - 7:55pm

WASHINGTON -- An influential business group called on Congress Thursday to stop playing politics with federal budget deficits and put "everything on the table," declaring that both tax increases and spending cuts are needed to restore the nation's finances to health.

More than 100 current and former chief executive officers signed a declaration released by the Committee for Economic Development, a nonpartisan policy-research group of business and university leaders.

The initiative is significant because it adds pressure from another influential voice to the political debate over the federal budget. The business group's push comes at a time when fiscal issues have become Washington's most prominent topic, one likely to dominate domestic politics through the 2012 elections.

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Debt commission chair tells Utah ideology won't solve deficit

Josh Loftin The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, April 15, 2011 - 10:47pm

SALT LAKE CITY -- The biggest obstacle to fixing the federal deficit isn't the money but the partisan divide and lack of civility in politics, the co-chairman of President Barack Obama's debt commission said Friday.

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Muni bond bust could do big damage

Bernard Condon, The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, December 2, 2010 - 10:19pm

NEW YORK -- It's the other U.S. debt problem.

States are scrambling to close $114 billion in budget shortfalls over the next year and a half. For now, they can borrow at curiously low rates in the bond market -- but they better hurry.

Lenders are still throwing money at the federal government despite its trillions of dollars of debt. But when it comes to states, cities and local governments deep in the red, their generosity appears to be running out.

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Budget cutters aim their axes at Medicare

Kaiser Health News, Mary Agnes Carey

Last updated Monday, November 29, 2010 - 4:44pm

WASHINGTON -- Plans to curb Medicare spending are proliferating -- spurred by concerns about the federal budget deficit -- and setting the stage for potentially bruising battles between seniors' advocates and budget cutters.

The proposals, put forth by members of bipartisan deficit-reduction panels as well as Republican lawmakers, aim to help reduce the $1.3 trillion annual deficit as well as the mounting national debt. The plans would require beneficiaries to pay a larger share of Medicare, the federal health program for the elderly and people with disabilities. One idea would transform the 45-year-old program by giving seniors a set amount of money to buy their own Medicare coverage.

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Obama to freeze federal worker pay

Julie Pace

Last updated Monday, November 29, 2010 - 1:36pm

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will announce a two-year pay freeze for federal employees Monday, a move White House officials say is the first of many difficult decisions that must be made to reduce the nation's mounting deficit.

The White House said Monday that the freeze would apply to all civilian federal employees, including those working at the Department of Defense, but would not affect military personnel. The freeze is expected to result in more than $5 billion in savings over two years, according to Jeffrey Zients, a deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget.

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