Federal spending is out-of-control and is projected to grow even faster in the future, burdening Americans and saddling future generations with a giant, unaffordable debt, and an intrusive government. Congress amassed huge amounts of debt over past decades by allowing the federal government to become bloated, overextended, and unrestrained. Spending on entitlement programs—especially Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security— is the main driver of America’s long-term spending and debt crises. Congress should cut current spending and restrict future spending through entitlement reforms, without raising taxes, and while assuring full funding for America’s defense.
The Heritage Foundation offers a detailed plan to redesign entitlement programs, guarantee assistance to those who need it, and save the American dream for future generations. Read More.
See the web’s best visual presentation of federal spending, taxes, debt, and entitlements. Read More.
Issues 2012 provides candidates for elected office the ability to quickly identify the key issues of the day and present clear policy recommendations, supported by facts, for addressing them. Read More.
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) has once again pushed the outside of the fiscal envelope, presenting a budget that reaches balance in just five years—twice as fast as the group’s proposal a year ago—through entitlement reforms, deep spending reductions, and no tax increases. This aggressive plan incorporates many elements of…
Alison Fraser discusses Red Tape Rising on FBN's Stossel. …
In the few months since Washington’s dramatic debt ceiling confrontation, America’s fiscal situation has only worsened. Federal spending is set to soar past previous record-shattering levels, endangering the economic future of the nation. This is a moral issue because younger generations will be forced to bear either staggering levels of…
As the clock counts down toward Christmas, Congress still has major unfinished business to attend to. Not that we should be surprised. Emblematic of a resoundingly disappointing year, the last remaining issue to be resolved directly affects the pocketbooks of Americans. Just days from now, the payroll…
James Gattuso discusses Red Tape Rising on Fox Business. …
As the national debt races toward $17 trillion and nearly 13 million Americans search fruitlessly for work, America needs bold changes from its leaders. Congress must get federal spending and borrowing under control and get out of the way of job creation in the private sector. …
James Gattuso comments on Red Tape Rising on FNC. …
Heritage Research on red tape rising is mentioned on KETK news. …
Abstract: Despite Administration claims to the contrary, President Barack Obama’s budget proposal for FY 2013 would reduce national defense to the lowest of the major budget priorities of the federal government. The combination of the budget request and the Budget Control Act of 2011 would reduce the military’s personnel levels…
Abstract: The President’s 2013 budget, released on February 13, repeats the stale and unsuccessful policies of the past three years. The Administration’s apparent vision is one of bigger government, more spending, higher taxes, and deeper deficits. At a time when runaway spending and swelling…
For more on government spending, read Brian Reidl's new paper "Why Government Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth" ------ …
Soaring government spending and trillion-dollar budget deficits have brought fiscal responsibility -- and reducing government waste -- back onto the national agenda. President Obama recently identified 0.004 of 1 percent of the federal budget as wasteful and proposed eliminating this $140 million from his $3.6 trillion fiscal year 2010 budget…
During his presidential campaign, President Barack Obama promised the American people a "net spending cut."1 Instead, he signed a "stimulus" bill that spends $800 billion, and he has proposed a budget that would: Increase spending by $1 trillion over…
President George W. Bush has proposed terminating or strongly reducing the budgets of over 150 inefficient or ineffective programs. This is a step in the right direction to pare back the runaway spending that has pushed the budget deficit over $400 billion. In less than three years,…
As is apparent from President Obama’s declining approval ratings, the majority of Americans have lost confidence in the ability of Washington’s leadership to get the economy moving again. More to the point, many now recognize that the $814 billion in spending authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)…
Abstract: The number of Americans who pay taxes continues to shrink—and the United States is close to the point at which half of the population will not pay taxes for government benefits…
Abstract: Despite decades of repeated failure, President Obama and Congress continue to promote the myth that government can spend its way out of recession. Heritage Foundation economic policy expert Brian Riedl dispels the stimulus myth, lays out the evidence that government spending does not end recessions--and…
Abstract: While layoffs increased during this recession, they are not the primary cause of the nearly 10 percent unemployment rate. The main factor driving the unemployment rate so high during this recession was, and continues to…
Abstract: Quantitative easing is a largely experimental tool employed by the Federal Reserve to address a continuing sluggish economy and the renewed potential of deflation. That the Fed faces this prospect is final proof positive that President Barack Obama’s Keynesian stimulus policies have failed,…
The President’s post-debt-ceiling, election-year budget will provide a good test of whether he is serious about facing up to the country’s looming fiscal crisis and driving spending down. At this critical moment for the nation’s fiscal and economic health, he should seize the opportunity to change the course of fiscal…
As House appropriators begin hearings on fiscal year (FY) 2013 spending,[1] a second look at last week’s Congressional Budget Office report shows they already have exceeded their official Budget Control Act limits for the current year by a stunning $156 billion. Although some of this overrun reflects justifiable…
As Congress gears up for another year, reining in spending and debt should top the agenda, but one issue heading squarely against that priority is reauthorization of the transportation program. The last transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU, was marked by gluttonous excesses, which ranged from its porcine spending increases and wasteful spending…
After a year of unproductive brinksmanship, Congress and the President enter 2012 facing the same intractable budget problems as before: a fourth consecutive deficit expected to be $1 trillion or higher, spending that consumes nearly one-fourth of the economy’s total output, and an entitlement-driven fiscal disaster that has drawn…
To say “the budget process is broken,” as many Members of Congress like to complain, is a little misleading. The regular order of the budget process has not been employed for the past several years[1]—and mostly because of Congress’s inability or unwillingness to use it. But if not…
It's pretty clear to most Americans that Washington is broken and spending money well beyond the country's means. In...…
In The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Peter Diamond and Emmanuel Saez present a rambling defense of higher taxes on the...…
The General Services Administration blew through $820,000 in taxpayers' money in a lavish "team building" trip to Las...…
In a speech yesterday in Elyria, Ohio -- a small town just outside Cleveland sitting at the forks of the Black River...…
Americans who feel overtaxed already are in store for a shocker: Obamacare will add 17 new taxes or penalties for a...…
President Obama's budget proposes a sharp increase in entitlement spending and more outlays for domestic programs and...…
If you are looking for a great example of a national leader who can't get his priorities in order, look no further...…
Heritage recently released the 2012 Index of Dependency on Government and it found that dependence on government is at...…
Supporters of Ron Paul have re-launched an old ad promoting the old idea of American isolationism. “We now are a...…
President Obama visited the Pentagon on Thursday to outline his plan for gutting our nation's military. Obama's vision...…
Director, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies
Grover M. Hermann Senior Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs