Conservative Conversation and Community
Listening to local talk radio the other day on my way home from work, the host was talking about how spending under President Trump was 13% higher than it was under President Obama at the same point. Setting aside whether this is correct or not – trust no one and verify everything – the host […]
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It’s all crazy martinis today! Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America start with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau found to have used blackface on at least three occasions but the maddening part is how the left is urging everyone to calm down with respect to Trudeau when they would have […]
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America have no good martinis today. They wince as the national deficit creeps closer to $1 trillion again and lament that neither party has any intention of seriously addressing the problem before disaster strikes next decade. They also cringe as President Trump rightly slams Rashida […]
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Since everyone, including Presidential candidates, seem to be discussing canceling college debt, I was moved to offer some thoughts on the subject, none of which include canceling college debt, but some of which have been bandied about by grander conservative voices.
Now, my philosophy regarding this issue is simple: You made the deal, not the hardworking taxpayers who would be strapped with your “canceled” debt. Learn that lesson now; pay your own way.
MoreJim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are glad to see former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg decide not to run for president in 2020 but groan as he vows to spend huge sums of money to move the world “beyond carbon” in the next decade. They also fume as […]
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Rich McFadden of Radio America break down Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s request that red-state Democrats remain neutral on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. They also cannot believe that some Democrats are seriously considering the idea of almost doubling the federal budget to pay for Sen. Bernie […]
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are amazed that more than 90 percent of House Democrats either opposed a resolution supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement or refused to vote on it at all. They also grumble as deficit projections once again head north of a trillion dollars and the number […]
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In part one of this series, I explained the Cheney Doctrine which governed the GOP’s fiscal and trade policies in the 2000s. The Cheney Doctrine can be summed up as “give the voters low taxes and cheap foreign goods, and everyone will be happy.” This led to utter economic and political disaster in 2008 and […]
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[This is a two-part series. In part two I’ll explore whether Trump has invented a new fiscal strategy for the GOP] The Cheney doctrine, first articulated by Dick Cheney in the early 2000s, is that fiscal deficits do not matter. As the 2000s wore on, the doctrine was expanded to include trade deficits. This expanded […]
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are pleased to see pathetic levels of voter enthusiasm among Democrats in Texas and Georgia and they dissect the substantial personal debt afflicting the party’s nominee for governor in Georgia. They also fire back as California Rep. Eric Swalwell argues for a ban on […]
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Beyond the troubling debt-ceiling standoffs we witness every few years looms a far more dire threat: a true US government default, which economists warn could lead to a collapse of confidence in the American economy, a run on the dollar, and perhaps even a global economic meltdown. How close are we to such a catastrophic federal default?
To answer this question, a group of private-sector economists and fiscal policy experts has formed a citizens’ committee, called the Default Clock Committee, to maintain an objective, fact-based Federal Government Default Clock. The Clock is designed to help the public to see and track the nearness of the danger.
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Today Walter Williams in his syndicated column reminded me (like I needed to be reminded) that people simply don’t care about personal responsibility anymore. He gives a number examples of how the culture has changed, and writes about companies that advertise the ways people can get out of their debt. They promote steps people can take to “quickly be debt free.” Essentially, because someone carelessly and thoughtlessly used a credit card to satisfy their materialistic needs, the companies are paying for it. Even Dave Ramsey, a financial expert and person of high moral values whom I greatly admire, encourages people to negotiate with companies to lower their debt, and for a fraction of what they owe.
Then we have the Federal Student Aid program, which provides a means for students to have their loans forgiven, canceled, or discharged. At first, when looking at the requirements, I thought that the criteria made sense; then I realized how any creative person could play with those guidelines:
MoreTeddy Kupfer of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America cheer President Trump’s selection of John Bolton as National Security Adviser and look forward to his tough stance on North Korean nukes and the Iran nuclear deal while liberals fear that Bolton will start bombing everyone. They also unload on the bloated $1.3 trillion […]
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Since late December, Republicans in Washington have signed onto tax cuts and spending increases that could, over a decade, add several trillion dollars to the national debt and some 20 percentage points to the federal debt-GDP ratio. As such, this Bloomberg Businessweek headline seems warranted: “Doesn’t Anyone Care About Deficits Anymore?”
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So are we really going to do this? Is the United States, the world’s most important economy, really going to thoughtlessly stumble into a novel experiment in fiscal policy? Massive fiscal stimulus at this point in the business cycle?
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Republicans 2010: Elect us! We are the only true advocates of reducing federal spending and not raising the federal borrowing limit.
Republicans 2014: Elect us! The Republican-led House will enforce austerity measures against this free-spending President!
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As people should know the government is on the verge of shutting down again for a long weekend. The continuing resolution that ended the last shut down is due to expire at midnight tonight if I am not mistaken. Have no fear though Republicans and Democrats have come together to craft a compromise that will […]
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David French of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America pause to cheer the Falcon Heavy rocket launch by Space X this week and David hopes it sparks more aspirational innovation that our nation so sorely needs. They also grimace as Republican majorities are preparing to jack up spending significantly over the next couple […]
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It’s a tradition dating back to the Founding Fathers: the American government financing safeguards, be it retirement (Social Security), health benefits (Medicare), or rewards for military service in the form of federal entitlements. In an age of debt and deficits, when will lawmakers address entitlement reform? John Cogan, Hoover’s Leonard and Shirley Ely Senior Fellow […]
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The Trump Administration released its first full budget proposal on Tuesday. It is a good proposal. First, it balances the federal budget by the end of the 10-year budget period. Second, its gets a handle on the federal government’s accelerating debt and interest costs. Finally, it is pro-growth. This final point is critical because achieving the goal of the restoration of a responsible federal fiscal policy will be a practical impossibility in the midst of a stagnant economy.
The immediate task for Congress is to adopt a budget that matches the general parameters of the Trump Administration’s proposal. This is to say, the budget Congress adopts should include the same numbers for the total outlays, the total revenues, deficits, debt, and interest costs (both on debt held by the public and debt held by other government accounts) in each fiscal year. On the other hand, it is appropriate for Congress to modify the budget proposed by the Administration in terms of the individual accounts under these general numbers. The Trump Administration cannot expect to get everything it wants. Most important for President Trump is that he limit himself to issuing veto threats against any appropriations bill and reconciliation bill that follows from such a budget to very few matters—those that are at the very top of his policy priorities.
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