Tag: Robert Bixby

Analysis: U.S. budget deal could bring truce, minimize shutdown threats

Analysis: U.S. budget deal could bring truce, minimize shutdown threats

By David Lawder and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON Sun Dec 8, 2013 11:28am EST

A view of the Capitol Building in Washington October 15, 2013. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

A view of the Capitol Building in Washington October 15, 2013.  Credit: Reuters/Joshua Roberts

(Reuters) – A minimalist U.S. budget deal that congressional negotiators hope to reach in coming days will do almost nothing to tame rising federal debt, but it could usher in a nearly two-year fiscal truce, minimizing the risk of future funding crises and government shutdowns.

If the accord comes together, it would blunt some of the automatic “sequester” spending cuts and set funding levels at around $1 trillion for fiscal 2014 and 2015 for government agencies and programs from the military to national parks.

Such a deal would not address an increase in the federal borrowing limit, which is expected to come up again by the spring, leaving conservatives a pressure point to try to exploit. Continue reading “Analysis: U.S. budget deal could bring truce, minimize shutdown threats”

Weary budget negotiators near deal to avert standoff

The Seattle Times

Weary budget negotiators near deal to avert standoff

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray, D-Wash., and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., are nearing a budget deal that amounts to little more than a cease-fire.

By Lori Montgomery The Washington Post

  Sen. Patty Murray

Sen. Patty Murray

WASHINGTON — House and Senate negotiators were putting the finishing touches Sunday on what would be the first successful budget accord since 2011, when the battle over a soaring national debt first paralyzed Washington.

The deal expected to be sealed this week on Capitol Hill would not significantly reduce the debt, now $17.3 trillion and rising. It would not close corporate tax loopholes or reform expensive health-care and retirement programs. It would not even fully replace sharp spending cuts known as the sequester, the negotiators’ primary target.

After more than two years of constant crisis, the emerging agreement amounts to little more than a cease-fire. Republicans and Democrats are abandoning their debt-reduction goals, laying down arms and, for the moment, trying to avoid another economy-damaging standoff. Continue reading “Weary budget negotiators near deal to avert standoff”

Budget deal expected this week amounts to a cease-fire as sides move to avert a standoff

Budget deal expected this week amounts to a cease-fire as sides move to avert a standoff

By , Published: December 8

House and Senate negotiators were putting the finishing touches Sunday on what would be the first successful budget accord since 2011, when the battle over a soaring national debt first paralyzed Washington.

The deal expected to be sealed this week on Capitol Hill would not significantly reduce the debt, now $17.3 trillion and rising. It would not close corporate tax loopholes or reform expensive health-care and retirement programs. It would not even fully replace sharp spending cuts known as the sequester, the negotiators’ primary target.

After more than two years of constant crisis, the emerging agreement amounts to little more than a cease-fire. Republicans and Democrats are abandoning their debt-reduction goals, laying down arms and, for the moment, trying to avoid another economy-damaging standoff. Continue reading “Budget deal expected this week amounts to a cease-fire as sides move to avert a standoff”

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