Republicans’ short-term suspension of the debt limit is a tactical retreat, but it sets up another budget showdown very soon.
Budgets
The Leverage
Republicans are now talking about raising the debt ceiling, but just for a month or two. That would open up a number of key Fiscal Cliff 2 questions.
The Next Cliff: Another Round of Debt Brinkmanship Looms
Originally devised as a solution to the last round of debt-limit negotiations, the fiscal cliff instead sets up another round of hostage taking.
Entitlement Cuts Loom as Obstacle to Fiscal Cliff Deal
Obama has expressed willingness to cut a deal that scales back federal entitlements, but many Democrats are loath to agree to cuts.
Chained CPI: Is Changing the Government Inflation Formula the Secret to a Deficit Deal?
Washington is full of speculation this week as Democrats and Republicans examine different ways to cut spending, raise revenue and reform entitlements to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff.” One policy getting more attention is a new way for the government to calculate inflation.
![157538080[1]](http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/1575380801.jpg?w=480&h=320&crop=1 "157538080[1]")
Obama Won’t Budge on Top Tax Rates
Barack Obama dug in Tuesday on his demand that any bargain to avert the so-called fiscal cliff include an agreement to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, warning that a deal would not be reached before the Jan. 1 deadline …
As Fiscal Cliff Approaches, Mayors Warn of the Toll on Cities
The fiscal cliff would be a bear for all Americans, but it would devastate U.S. cities
A Brief Primer on the Fiscal Cliff
The “fiscal cliff,” as it is known in Washington, remains poorly understood outside Washington, because it is technical and political and unrelated to adultery. But it’s important, because unless President Obama and Congress can work out a deal to avoid the cliff by January 1, the U.S. could plunge into a recession. Here are …
How to Close the Deficit (A Little)
My colleague Fareed Zakaria has a really smart column today about Germany’s role in the Greek debt crisis–and guess what? He’s not bashing the Germans for fiscal austerity. He’s praising them for the compassion they’ve shown, at a stiff cost to German taxpayers, to keep the Greeks afloat. For me, though, the most interesting thing about …
What We’ve Learned from Paul Ryan’s New Budget
Republicans’ cherubic budget crusader, Paul Ryan, unveiled the latest House GOP budget on Tuesday morning. It won’t become law anytime soon, but it can still tell us a few things about the state of fiscal politics in 2012.
The Proposed 2013 Defense Budget: ‘Shaving the Balloon’
The Obama Administration came to a fork in the road this year on military spending: given the financial pressures facing the nation, it could have fundamentally set U.S. defense policy on a new path. Or it could have kept pretty much everything and just sucked it in as it tightened its belt. It has elected to do the latter, and that’s …
White House Budget as Political Manifesto: Obama’s $3.8 Trillion Plan for American Revival
With a divided Congress still standing at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, the annual White House budget isn’t a policy proposal destined for markup in the subcommittee rooms of the Capitol. It’s a statement of principle.
Clip’n'Save of the Day
The reactionary socialists over at the Congressional Budget Office have created a fantastic infographic for understanding federal spending, debt and taxation right now in the U.S.:
