Philip Klein
The budget that President Obama proposed on Monday is highly dependent on economic growth forecasts for the next decade that are significantly higher than the Congressional Budget Office has projected. Economic assumptions can affect budget numbers in several ways. For…
Right now, I sitting through a House Energy and Commerce committee oversight hearing on the waivers that have been granted to exempt certain businesses from new regulations under the national health care law. Conservatives have made two main arguments against…
I’m here at the House Budget Committee hearing, where White House budget director Jacob Lew is testifying about the Obama budget. Rep. Paul Ryan, the chairman of the committee, pressed Lew on the administration’s projections. The administration has claimed that…
I caught up with Rep. Paul Ryan after his Budget Committee hearing as he was racing to grab lunch, and asked him about the challenges confronting Republicans as they attempt to write a budget of their own. “You’ll see our…
House Speaker John Boehner has released a statement today along with Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders declaring that the GOP budget would, in fact, include entitlement cuts: “The American people are ready…
Two years ago, Barack Obama unveiled his first budget as president, ambitiously titled “A New Era of Fiscal Responsibility.” The budget projected that by the time we reached 2019, the national debt would increase 62 percent, to a whopping $15.4…
Earlier today, President Obama gave a speech highlighting his new 2012 budget proposal. “(W)hen I was sworn in as President, I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term,” he reminded the audience. “The…
Today, President Obama’s reckless budget proposal gave the Republicans ample opportunity for crowing, as it exposed the administration’s unseriousness at addressing the nation’s debt crisis. Even long time Obama cheerleader Andrew Sullivan was taken aback: “All of us who took…
If the Conservative Political Action Conference were to give an award for the most candid assessment of the Republican presidential field by a likely candidate, then former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty would be the runaway winner. During a meeting with…
Earlier this week, I explained why I thought we shouldn’t write off Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour’s chances of winning the Republican nomination, despite the obvious obstacles to his potential candidacy. This morning, Barbour reinforced that view with an impressive speech…
