Budget

Why Some Conservatives Love the Shutdown

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The Washington Post reports that the prolonged shutdown is giving some small-government conservatives who have the president’s ear just what they’ve long wanted: a smaller government and a chance to...
Shutdown Could Be Twice as Costly as White House Estimated

By Michael Rainey

The Trump administration has raised its estimate of the cost to the economy from the shutdown, CNBC’s Steve Liesman reported Tuesday. White House economists had initially weighed the effect of 800,...
Trump Fails to Crack Democratic Unity on Shutdown

By Yuval Rosenberg

Even lunch is an issue. As the partial government shutdown stretches toward its 26 th day, the White House tried to bypass Democratic leadership by inviting rank-and-file House Democrats to lunch...
Why Trump Thinks He’s Winning the Shutdown Fight

By Yuval Rosenberg

Here’s your shutdown update in one word: Stuck. The partial government shutdown is now heading for its 25th day, four days longer than the previous record, and both sides remain firmly dug in on...
House Democrats to Investigate Drug Prices

By Michael Rainey

A key House investigative committee announced Monday that it was launching a wide-ranging investigation into the pricing practices of 12 major pharmaceutical companies, including Amgen, Eli Lilly,...

Leading Economist Says Government Debt Might Not Be So Bad After All

By Michael Rainey

Renowned macroeconomist Olivier Blanchard says that policymakers may need to fundamentally revise their views on the long-term cost of government debt. Delivering the presidential address at last...
The Longest Shutdown Ever – with No End in Sight

By Yuval Rosenberg

Three weeks, zero progress. Congress adjourned for the weekend without any movement toward a negotiated resolution to the partial government shutdown, which is now guaranteed to become the longest in...
Conservatives Push Back on Trump’s Possible ‘National Emergency’ Declaration

By Yuval Rosenberg

As President Trump considers declaring a national emergency as a face-saving way to get out of the government shutdown impasse, some conservatives are expressing concern that such a move would set a...
Trump 'Almost Definitely' to Declare a National Emergency

By Yuval Rosenberg

With talks to end the partial government shutdown showing no signs of progress, President Trump on Thursday said he has “an absolute right to declare a national emergency” in order to build a wall...
The Economic Costs of the Shutdown

By Michael Rainey

Moody’s Investor Service said Thursday that the government shutdown poses a risk to the U.S. creditworthiness “to the extent that it disrupts the US economy,” but there’s no threat to the country’s...

Why Declaring a ‘National Emergency’ May Be Trump’s Best Bet

By Yuval Rosenberg

As of Tuesday afternoon, President Trump was reportedly still undecided about whether to follow through on his threat to declare a national emergency on the southern border, opening up the...
$Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during an event to introduce the "Medicare for All Act of 2017\$

Democrats Gear Up for Single-Payer Health Care Push

By Michael Rainey

Democrats are making it clear that they’re serious about moving forward on universal health care. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said last week that she supports holding hearings on Medicare-for-All...
House Democrats’ Budget Will Call for Raising Corporate Taxes

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The new Democratic House Budget Committee chairman said Friday that the fiscal 2020 budget blueprint his chamber produces will seek to raise revenue by increasing the corporate tax rate from the...
5 Ways the Shutdown Pain Could Get Much Worse

By Michael Rainey

Now in its third week, the shutdown will become the longest in history if it lasts until Saturday, and the negative effects are starting to accumulate – and could grow more destructive in the coming...
Trump Sets Prime-Time Speech to Ramp Up Shutdown Pressure on Dems

By Yuval Rosenberg

As the partial government shutdown heads into its 18th day with no sign of a breakthrough to end the impasse, President Trump is looking to make his case directly to the American public — and not...