6:09 am: President Obama will unveil his $3.77 trillion budget proposal for 2014. It would cut deficits by another $1.8 trillion over a decade, impose some new taxes aimed primarily at the wealthy, and make changes to Social Security and Medicare. More
Proposal by House budget chief Paul Ryan would balance the federal budget with sharply lower spending and revenue windfall.
Republican Paul Ryan's 2014 House budget proposal will promise to balance the budget in 10 years. Last year, Ryan's budget didn't do so for more than 25 years. How can he do it now?
Lawmakers may make some effort to replace the indiscriminate spending cuts that just took effect. But the longer they wait, the greater the likelihood the cuts stay place.
Defense departments are among the first to warn unions of impending furloughs for workers starting the week of April 22.
The spending cuts no one likes but can't agree on how to replace are now officially in effect. Lawmakers may still replace them in the next month or two. But no guarantees. In the meantime, federal agencies must take an ax to their budgets.
Political bickering over the $85 billion in spending cuts has clouded the public's understanding and wasted time. As the cuts are poised to begin, it's time to clear the air.
Ramifications of automatic spending cuts will kick in over months, not days or weeks. And the general public's awareness of them may be delayed and uneven.
Federal agencies have been under pressure to cut spending before, but this time they're being asked to do so without the benefit of any real facts about their budgets going forward.
In Colorado Spring, a hub of small businesses that rely heavily on federal contracts, business owners say government work started getting harder to come by months ago.
$85 billion in looming federal budgets cuts, knows as the sequester, could cost almost 800,000 jobs and shave up to 0.7 percentage points off the nation's gross domestic product.
Lawmakers are unlikely to avert the automatic spending cuts before Friday. It's more likely Congress will reach a deal to replace the cuts after they begin. But there's no telling when.
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