Budget Lies Aren’t Helping the Deficit

David Sirota / Truthdig Feb 12, 2010 For 30 years, Republicans and conservative Democrats have precluded factual debates about spending priorities for fear of antagonizing defense contractors, seniors and the wealthy. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Limbaugh Says $250,000 Isn’t Wealthy

Staff / Truthdig Feb 2, 2010 For all their talk of deficits, conservatives don't ever want to pay for them. Rush Limbaugh says people making more than $250,000 a year -- who may just have to brace for a tax hike to keep our budget shortfalls somewhere in this galaxy -- do not qualify as wealthy. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Obama Announces $3.8 Trillion Budget for 2011

Staff / Truthdig Feb 2, 2010 President Barack Obama on Monday announced his proposed 2011 budget, which includes boosted spending for creating jobs and waging wars, a potential tax on big banks, funding for infrastructure on the state and city levels and a whopping $16 trillion deficit for the fiscal year . Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Obama and the House GOP: Full Q&A From Baltimore

Staff / Truthdig Jan 30, 2010 Courtesy of C-SPAN, watch the whole (and at times, lively) exchange between President Barack Obama and Republican House members at a GOP retreat in Baltimore on Friday. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Obama Confronts Critics (and Vice Versa) at GOP Retreat

Staff / Truthdig Jan 30, 2010 Turns out that Barack Obama's extemporaneous critique of the Supreme Court during his State of the Union speech Wednesday wasn't the only such (apparently) unscripted moment he'd spend this week On Friday, the president engaged in a frank exchange with Republican House members at a retreat in Baltimore, where he (continued). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Hope in the Deep Freeze

Joe Conason / Truthdig Jan 28, 2010 There are many reasons why Barack Obama's spending freeze, which appears to be nothing more than pandering to the angry right, will not work as policy or politics. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Obama to Propose Spending Freeze

Staff / Truthdig Jan 26, 2010 As part of his State of the Union address Wednesday, the president is expected to call for a three-year freeze on non-military, non-entitlement discretionary spending that amounts to a small fraction of the budget. It's a stunt, for the most part, aimed at soothing budget-conscious independents. (continued) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The End of Wall Street Liberalism

E.J. Dionne Jr. / Truthdig Jan 14, 2010 If you held a contest to pick the worst thing a politician could be called at this moment, my nominee would be Wall Street Liberal -- which is why President Obama's new fees on the biggest banks comes just in time. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

In Need of a Watchdog on Health Spending

Ruth Marcus / Truthdig Dec 17, 2009 There was a nice, albeit fleeting, moment in the spring when hospitals, doctors, drug companies and insurers came together at the White House, pledging to do their part to get health care costs under control. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Where Are the Real Deficit Hawks?

David Sirota / Truthdig Nov 13, 2009 Save $110 billion, or spend $6.3 trillion? In recent months, tea party protesters and Congress' so-called fiscal conservatives chose the latter. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

A Cruel and Unusual Waste of Money

Staff / Truthdig Oct 22, 2009 Executing people is expensive A new report by the Death Penalty Information Center says California is spending more than 10 times as much on capital punishment -- $137 million a year -- as it would on an alternative life-without-parole system New York and New Jersey repealed . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Nancy Pelosi Promises Public Option on the Cheap

Staff / Truthdig Oct 21, 2009 The House speaker is thrilled to hear from the Congressional Budget Office that all three versions of the public option under consideration in the lower chamber would be cheaper than expected and would actually reduce the deficit over 10 years. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )