Tag: United States Congress

Sequestration 101 — Do you actually know how it would work?

Be honest. You have heard us all talking/worrying/complaining about the potential for sequestration since August of 2011, but do you actually know how it would work? I, for one, only had a loose understanding of the process.

Todd Harrison is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He gave Chris Dorobek on the DorobekINSIDER a detailed breakdown of sequestration and its impact governmentwide.

Harrison’s Take

First Off: A History Lesson

Back in July/August of 2011 when we were approaching the debt ceiling, Congress came together for some last minute negotiations to raise the debt ceiling. That agreement was called the Budget Control Act of 2011. The Act formed the Super Committee tasked with finding $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions. But, the Act also created a binding way to force the cuts in the case the Super Committee failed — that binding resolution was sequestration. Continue reading “Sequestration 101 — Do you actually know how it would work?”

OMB sequestration report incomplete, senators say

OMB sequestration report incomplete, senators say

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.S
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Two Republican senators on Thursday criticized the Office of Management and Budget for failing to provide what they say is legally mandated analysis in its recent report on the looming spending cuts slated for 2013.

In a letter to acting OMB Director Jeffrey Zients, Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., accused the office of dragging its feet all year long and for failing in its report to explain the impact the cuts will have at the program, project, and activity level. Continue reading “OMB sequestration report incomplete, senators say”

Lockheed Campaign Cash Has Flowed to Members of House Panel Probing F-22 Problems

POGO Project On Government Oversight

Sep 13, 2012

Lockheed Campaign Cash Has Flowed to Members of House Panel Probing F-22 Problems

 

Pogo_special_report_box

By JACOB WASHKURAK, JOHN PARKER and BEN FREEMAN

When members of a House subcommittee convene today for a hearing on the troubled F-22 stealth fighter, they’ll have more in common than just an interest in the mysterious symptoms that caused some pilots to declare the plane unsafe to fly earlier this year.

All but one of the 25 subcommittee members have received contributions in the current election cycle from individuals or political action committees associated with Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor on the F-22, according to a Project On Government Oversight (POGO) analysis of data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

The one exception, Pennsylvania Republican Todd R. Platts, is retiring from Congress. In a 2010 op-ed piece, he said that as always his campaign was being funded solely by contributions from individual citizens and that he refused to accept contributions from special-interest groups. There are no records of his ever having accepted any funds from employees of Lockheed Martin during his congressional career, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Continue reading “Lockheed Campaign Cash Has Flowed to Members of House Panel Probing F-22 Problems”

The Fiscal Cliff, In Three And A Half Graphics

NPR

September 20, 2012

by Jacob Goldstein and Lam Thuy Vo

For more, see this story from NPR’s Marilyn Geewax on how Congress might pass some stopgap measures to blunt the effect of the fiscal cliff.

A bunch of federal tax increases and spending cuts are scheduled to kick in around Jan. 1, 2013. This is what people are talking about when they talk about the “fiscal cliff.”

If recent experience is any guide, things will probably start to get crazy as the deadline approaches, and Congress will move at the last minute to block some of the tax increases and spending cuts.

Before things get crazy, let’s take a quick look at the numbers for fiscal year 2013. Continue reading “The Fiscal Cliff, In Three And A Half Graphics”

Senator: Congress can deal with ‘fiscal cliff’

Senator: Congress can deal with ‘fiscal cliff’

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said on Sunday that while he is confident Congress can reach a deal to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff,” it will likely take several months to hammer out the details.

“If President Obama is re-elected, I believe we can avoid the fiscal cliff,” Durbin said during an appearance on Bloomberg’s new Capitol Gains Sunday show.

However, Durbin said he believed “only the broadest outlines” of a deal can be achieved when Congress returns for a lame-duck session following the November election. Continue reading “Senator: Congress can deal with ‘fiscal cliff’”