So budget bills got through the Arizona Senate Thursday, which were surprisingly decent, and the Medicaid expansion won a decisive majority vote. Political strategist and former legislator John Loredo said it best on his Facebook page:

Tonight Senate Democrats along with a handful of courageous Republicans passed a reasonable, responsible budget. Dems learned that when you have serious leverage, you can hold out for some pretty amazing victories – if you don’t throw in the towel too ...

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The Exception Or The Rule?

With the IRS admitting to inappropriately targeting conservative groups – beginning back in 2011 – it’s worth taking another look at how the culture in Washington has been driven by politics even before this latest scandal.  Just a few weeks ago, serious questions were being raised about how federal agencies were implementing the sequester.  The White House repeatedly warned of the dire consequences of a 3 percent spending cut, and some have suggested that the...

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Spending Daily | May 15, 2013

“Obama’s Dangerous New Narrative”

Alexander Burns and John F. Harris write in POLITICO, “No contemporary American politician has benefited more from the power of good storytelling than Barack Obama. He vaulted from obscurity to the presidency on the power of narrative — invoking his biography and personal values to make a larger point about how he would lead the nation. So presumably no one understands more vividly than Obama and his close aides just ...

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Spending Daily | May 14, 2013

IRS Commissioner: No “political or partisan motivation” in Targeting of Groups

Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller editorializes in USA Today, “The Internal Revenue Service recognizes that we should have done a better job of handling the influx of applications by advocacy organizations. Mistakes were made, but they were in no way due to any political or partisan motivation. We are — and will continue to be — dedicated to reviewing all applications for t...

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Spending Daily | May 10, 2013

“On Jobs Tour In Texas, Obama Offers Little New Hope For Jobs Progress In Washington”

TIME reports, “President Barack Obama’s campaign-style, jobs-focused swing through the Texas technology core on Thursday was notable mainly for what it left out—any plan for putting his proposals into law. … Ostensibly Obama flew to a Democratic enclave in the deep-red state to pitch his previously announced plan for 15 nationwide manufacturing innovation institutes an...

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Spending Daily | May 6, 2013 

No More Tax-Free Online Shopping?

The Associated Press reports, “Attention online shoppers: The days of tax-free shopping on the Internet may soon end for many of you. The Senate is scheduled to vote Monday on a bill that would empower states to collect sales taxes for purchases made over the Internet. The measure is expected to pass because it has already survived three procedural votes. But it faces opposition in the House, where some Republicans regard it as ...

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Spending Daily | May 3, 2013

US Economy Adds 165,000 jobs in April

Market Watch reports, “The U.S. created a net 165,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department said Friday. The increase surpassed the 135,000 forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch. What’s more, the economy created an additional 124,000 jobs in March and February than previously reported. The number of new jobs created in March was revised up to 138,000 from 88,000, the Labor Department said, while February’s figure was...

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The FDA has issued new rules on over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception. It will now be on store shelves and available to anyone age 15 or over. Previously, it had been kept behind the pharmacy counter and you had to be at least 17 to purchase it.

This ruling comes as a disappointment to many reproductive justice advocates who celebrated last month’s ruling. In April, Judge Edward Korman ordered the FDA to change regulations on the morning after pill, making it available over-the-cou...

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Spending Daily | May 2, 2013 

SHOCK: White House Can’t Avoid Furloughs

Bloomberg reports, “President Barack Obama began experiencing first-hand the effects of across-the-board federal spending cuts as the first wave of White House furloughs kicked in yesterday. The $85 billion in cuts known as sequestration hit White House staffers with day-long furloughs scattered throughout the next two weeks. All staff classified as non-commissioned will miss one work day without salary during May�...

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No Smart Way?
Oh, Behave…

The blame game in Washington reached a new low yesterday when President Obama said that he shouldn’t have to tell Congress how to “behave” when it comes to the sequester.  In light of the comments, Bankrupting America decided to take a look back at how the White House has been behaving when faced with cutting three cents on the dollar in government spending.

IDEA OF SEQUESTER ORIGINATED FROM WHITE HOUSE

Some Say Sequester Was Obama’s Idea.
Chris Wallace, ...

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No Smart Way?
What Happened to “Line-By-Line”?

Remember when President Obama prided himself on the desire to get out the red pen and go “line-by-line, page-by-page” through the federal budget to eliminate waste and inefficiency?  That was a long time ago.  Now, the White House is changing its tune.  When it comes to the sequester, “line-by-line” is “piecemeal.”  And that’s no way to do business in Washington … at least if you want to hold onto your political leverage for...

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Spending Daily | April 30, 2013

“Treasury to pay down debt for first time since Obama took office”

According to The Hill, “The Treasury Department announced Monday that it would reduce its level of debt in financial markets for the first time since President Obama took office. The department said it expects to pay down a net of $35 billion in its marketable debt for the second quarter of 2013, the first time it has done so since 2007. In February, Treasury had estimated the government wo...

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No Smart Way?
Debt Hoarders

More and more lawmakers in Washington are lining up to say we don’t have a spending problem and are ready to defend their massive deficits that add trillions to the debt.  But a new poll from Public Notice shows that the vast majority of Americans disagree; the best way to improve the economy is by cutting spending and exercising some fiscal restraint.  At the same time, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is warning that the debt is unsustainable without...

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No Smart Way?
Question for the White House

For months the White House has warned of the dire consequences of the sequester, maintained there is “no smart way” to cut spending and even threatened to veto a bill that would give them that flexibility.  They were wrong.  After insisting for months that the only way to deal with a 1.4 percent budget cut in the Department of Transportation was to furlough air traffic controllers and cause massive delays, it took less than a week for Congress to...

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On the day after the Boston bombings, President Obama addressed the nation and labeled the attacks an act of terror.

“Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians it is an act of terror,” he said.

This was a step forward for a president who has avoided the use of the word “terror” for years. His administration even banned the term “war on terror.”

Source: Grumpy Elder

As the investigation into the Boston bombings continues, it remains to be seen whether the administration wil...

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President Obama recently revealed that he’s pursuing closure of “tax loopholes” in the U.S. gas and oil industry.   History has shown us that Democrats are often quick to blame ”greedy” oil companies for the financial ills of society.  President Obama is leading his current crusade in the name of “energy reform,” invoking class struggle words like “fair share.”  This time he’s looking to repeal tax subsidies for the “Big 5R...

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Broken Record: Beggar’s Banquet

RECORD REVENUES: Federal Gov’t Projected To Collect Most Revenue In History In 2013: “The federal government is projected to collect more revenue in 2013 than ever before, a statistic Republicans are touting to make the case that the government has a spending problem, not a taxing one. … Both the CBO and the White House estimate the government will collect around $2.7 trillion in 2013, up from around $2.45 trillion last year.” (Bernie Becker, “Fed’s...

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Budgetology: Move The Chains

Based on the reaction to President Obama’s proposal to change the way Social Security cost-of-living adjustments are estimated and transition to Chained CPI, you’d think it was putting it on a path towards insolvency! The truth is, the change is a long-overdue, common sense reform that is a step in the right direction, but falls well short of preserving the program and reducing our long-term debt.  It seems like Washington is dividing itself into two groups of ...

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Spending Daily | April 11, 2013

“A Tale Of Two Charts: Busted To Balanced In One Year?”

POLITICO reports, “Tucked deep inside President Obama’s budgets last year and this year are charts extrapolating the effects on publicly held debt some 70 years in the future, but they paint vastly different pictures, going from out-of-control, exploding debt to dropping-like-a-stone, into-negative-territory debt. … One White House official said the new, rosier prediction is based on explosive ...

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