CapitolWatch News

• The President’s Budget – MoreSpending, Taxing, Borrowing and Debt for America

  February 15, 2012

  On February 23, 2009President Obama stated that he would “cut the deficit in half” from when heentered office, to the end of his term. The actual or projected deficit talliesfor the four years in which Obama has submitted budgets are: $1.293 trillion in2010, $1.300 trillion in 2011, and $1.327 trillion in 2012. Just this week thePresident announced his budget for the 2013 Fiscal Year. He will again miss hisgoal of achieving $650 billion in deficit spending and is forecasting a deficitof $901 billion in 2013. In total, the deficit spendingduring the President’s time in office is an estimated $5.170 trillion. That’smore than George W. Bush, the man Obama blames for the deficits of today, talliedup in 8 years in office.

  

• Taxpayers Still Waiting for $133B in Bailout Cash

  February 08, 2012

  The acting inspector general for the U.S. Government's financial bailout announced this month that taxpayers are still owed a whopping $133 billion. The announcement came in a quarterly report to Congress. Following the 2008 financial crisis, Congress authorized $700 billion for the bailout of financial companies and automakers, called the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). About $413 billion was lent.

  

• 1,000 Days and Still No Budget from the Senate

  January 27, 2012

  The President delivered his annual State of the Union address this week, but another annual tradition will soon come and go that Americans may not realize – the passage of a federal budget. It’s been over 1,000 days since the U.S. Senate has passed a budget. While the budget is not a binding resolution, it sets the tone for how our government manages its finances. American families understand that if you don’t have a budget and stick to it, the consequences are overspending and little to no accountability. Unfortunately, we have learned the same rule applies to our government.

  

• Keystone XL Pipeline – A Missed Opportunity for Jobs and American Energy Independence

  January 26, 2012

  This month President Obama passed on development of Keystone XL, a proposed 1,700-mile pipeline that would transport oil from Alberta, Canada, to the Texas Gulf Coast. Proponents of the pipeline have stated that the project would create 20,000 jobs in the U.S., including 13,000 positions in construction and 7,000 in manufacturing. In addition the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims it could create 250,000 permanent U.S. jobs. At a time of high unemployment and increasing dependence on oil from hostile foreign nations like Venezuela, isn’t it time our nation undertake all efforts to develop oil here in North America?