And NASA thinks it can compete with SpaceX or Orbital Sciences? The agency is asking for billions more to build the Orion capsule.
The squealing is getting louder: NPR has launched an offensive against the congressman who wants to cut its funding.
I wish Congress understood this: Almost three quarters of the public opposes raising the country’s debt limit.
The money is not there, and Treasury Secretary Geithner agrees. On January 6 he wrote a letter to Congress, stating that the US will go into default if the debt ceiling is not raised.
Some squeals from the right: Don’t cut defense.
As much as I think it necessary to aggressively fight the wars we are in, I have no doubt that the budget of the Defense Department could be trimmed by significant amounts, without harming our capabilities in the slightest.
More progress: Two House bills have been introduced to eliminate funding for NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Stand by for loud squealing.
More please! New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has actually shut down a government agency.
More progress: The House plans to vote Thursday on a five percent cut in office salaries and expenses.
Another government-operated business that is losing money: Arianespace is requesting financial aid from the member nations of the European Space Agency to avoid a loss in 2010. This despite the fact that “the current request comes at a time when Arianespace might be expected to be in prime financial health.”
Good news, if we can believe them: The Republican leadership in Congress vows to cut spending and roll back ObamaCare.
Numbers to scare you: The just ended 111th Congress added more debt than the first hundred Congresses combined.
Oink! “Nonprofit groups, for-profit businesses, the University of Hawaii, and state and local governments” in Hawaii are faced with a loss of funding due to the end of earmarks in Congress.
What is most interesting about this article isn’t just that it gives a great deal of space to those who oppose earmarks and spending (something you don’t see that often in an AP article), but that the comments are almost universally in favor of eliminating earmarks as well as cutting the federal government. A truly hopeful sign.
Oink! Scientists rail against senator who belittled research.
Alabama town’s failed pension is a warning.
So you think NASA’s gonna get some money, eh? According the Treasury Department, the government’s debt rose by $2 trillion last year alone.
So what happens when California goes bankrupt?
Your tax dollars at work: Twenty idiotic things the U.S. government is spending money on. My favorite, #8, also happens to be one of the most expensive:
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs spent $175 million during 2010 to maintain hundreds of buildings that it does not even use. This includes a pink, octagonal monkey house in the city of Dayton, Ohio.
Want to trim the federal debt? Here’s a place to start: Federal paychecks in the San Diego area are one third higher than private pay, according to census numbers. The pay raises were also more than three times higher.
Giving credit where credit is due: Ed Morrissey notes that the Republicans have shown significant progress in reducing the number of earmarks requested by their members, while the Democrats have not.
Not only do the Republicans have to continue to improve their numbers, now is the time for Democrats to see the writing on the wall and get with the program. Cut spending!
Amen! The omnibus 2000 page trillion dollar budget bill is dead.
This is only a start. The spending must come down, by a lot!
Note also that yes, Congress will still be forced to pass a continuing resolution, but that will freeze spending at last year’s level, rather than the gobs of additional spending including in the omnibus bill. Like I said, this is a start.
Don’t slam the door on your way out! Check out this list of senators and the number of earmarks they placed in $1.27 trillion omnibus spending bill put together by the lame-duck Congress.
This might be the best news I’ve heard in years! The government may shut down on Saturday due to the stalemate in Congress over the $1.27 trillion pork-filled spending bill.
Though they can’t get the votes yet to approve it, the co-chairmen of Obama’s deficit commission today did release their own draft report.
Oink! The National Organization of Woman is demanding that President Obama reject the Social Security recommendations of his Fiscal Commission.
Will the squealing never stop? NPR says it’s ‘imperative’ that its federal funding not be cut.
More squealing of pigs! The advocates for commercial space are screaming about the spending cuts proposed by the White House’s deficit reduction commission.
Am I clairvoyant? Clark Lindsey notes how Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is recommending a $1.2 billion cut from NASA’s private commercial space budget.
Another government budget disaster: California – the coming collapse.
The former CEO of one of the nation’s largest banks says that unless the federal government gets its budget under control, bankruptcy is a “mathematical certainty.” I especially like this quote from the CEO, John Allison, in describing the past history of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack:
“I was on a committee, a Financial Services Roundtable, for nine years trying to do something about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae,” said Allison. “You couldn’t help but see it coming,” he said. “You ran the numbers, particularly the last several years, and it was mathematically certain Freddie and Fannie were going bankrupt.”
“We met with Congress. We met with [House Financial Services Chairman] Barney Frank and [Senate Banking Chairman] Chris Dodd and they absolutely wouldn’t see it,” said Allison.
