Every year the federal government piles on more laws that Americans must follow.
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U.S. Government Hits Debt Limit on March 16th
United States Government spends so much money these days that the debt is reaching its ceiling again. Do not expect Republicans put much of a fight up in stopping any raises as they usually join Democrats in governments spending addiction.
Via CNBC –
Unless Congress takes action, the U.S. will hit its debt limit on Mar. 16, but would begin taking “extraordinary measures” to finance the government on a temporary basis, according to the U.S. Treasury.
In a Friday morning letter to House Speaker John Boehner and other House and Senate leaders, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said that his office will be forced to suspend the issuance of State and Local Government Series securities on Mar. 13 unless the debt limit is raised.“Accordingly, I respectfully ask Congress to raise the debt limit as soon as possible,” Lew wrote in his letter.
The Congressional Budget Office said this week that if Congress does not raise the federal debt limit, the Treasury Department will exhaust all of its borrowing capacity and run out of cash in October or November, slightly later than a previous forecast.
Federal Government Spending For the Next 10 Years
Economics 21 had an interesting graph in their article titled “How to Fix the $960 Billion Budget Deficit”.
Here is how federal government spending will be broken up the next ten years.
Almost two-thirds of additional spending will be driven by entitlements, primarily Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare. America’s aging population is the primary contributor to the growth of Social Security and Medicare, while the Affordable Care Act substantially expanded the scope of Medicaid.
Adding interest payments to the budget brings the total increase in the debt from mandatory spending to 85 percent. Spending is projected to grow by $2.3 trillion annually by 2024.
Community Colleges Produce Poor Results
In the President’s State of the Union tonight he will unleash another signature plan of throwing money at something. This one is “Free Education” at two year community colleges. That will be a terrible idea and Cato Institute explains why:
Take completion rates. According to the federal Digest of Education Statistics, only 19.5 percent of first-time, full-time students at two-year public schools finish their programs within 150 percent of the time they are slated to take. So less than 20 percent finish a two-year degree within three years, or, say, a 10-month certificate program within 15 months. And that rate has fallen even since 2000, when 23.6 percent of students completed.
That statistic doesn’t change much when you account for student transfers. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, only 20 percent of community college students transfer to four-year institutions. Four years later, 72 percent of those have completed their degree or remain enrolled. That inches the success rate to roughly 34 percent.
For profit two year programs come with a steeper cost, but more people flock to them then community colleges.
Given the wide price difference, you would expect for-profit schools to be getting their lunch eaten by already dirt-cheap community colleges. They haven’t been. Between 1990 and 2010, for-profit colleges saw much faster enrollment growth than community colleges; 179 percent compared to 44 percent. Why?
There are many reasons, but one seems to be that for-profits are more responsive to students’ needs and desires than community colleges. They appear to offer more flexible scheduling, better focused training and superior student services. They can charge more in part because they provide a better service.
Cato’s write up is in depth and also tackles “the fraud” issue as well. Take a look at the rest of it here.
President Obama’s Coming Budget Showdown
With President Obama having a disastrous 4 years of losing Democrats in the House and Senate, he will now have to face his opponents in the federal budget ring. The media and his supporters have given him a pass on not getting a budget implemented in the last six years. This year will be different with the House/Senate being revamped with budget conscious members.
Rebecca Shabad at TheHill.com has an excellent timeline of what the President faces in the next coming months regarding the 2016 budget. I suggest taking a look at the article for the detailed write up after each date listed.
February 2: Obama’s budget deadline
February 27: DHS funding runs out
March 15: Debt limit suspension expires
April 1: GOP budget resolution?
September 30: Shutdown deadline
October 1: Fiscal 2016 begins
How the Wealthy Write Off Taxes
Whenever I see someone famous on TV talking about the need for higher taxes or claiming they enjoy paying taxes I always say, “Their accountant is laughing”.
Senator Tom Coburn issued a report showing exactly what I mean.
The tax code is so peppered with special giveaways that companies such as Facebook end up getting refunds, and high-profile athletes and artists use their tax-free foundations to give friends jobs while avoiding taxes — all leading to higher income tax rates for the rest of us, Sen. Tom Coburn charges in a new report being released Tuesday.
Here is a snapshot of what was found by his staff:
-Baseball owners are able to claim their players “depreciate” over time, the same way farms are able to claim their tractors depreciate
– Athletes and Hollywood stars who form tax-exempt organizations that they then use as tax shelters, throwing parties or paying employees’ salaries from the tax-exempt accounts while dedicating almost no money to charitable works.
-Kanye West’s foundation spent more than $1 million in 2009 and 2010 but “gave virtually nothing” to charity. Fellow performer Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation raised $2.6 million but only gave away $5,000 in grants
You can read more via Washington Times
2015 Fiscal Year For U.S. Government Starts Today
The United States federal government starts a new fiscal year today. The President proposed a budget in March but has not worked with the Senate or House in finalizing an actual budget. U.S. federal government spending will occur through later appropriations legislation that is signed into law.
Here’s a snapshot of 2015 proposed spending and tax revenues from the President. Deficits and debt still accumulate at an historical rate.
U.S. House Votes to Cut IRS Budget
While I personally would like to see Lois Lerner criminally arrested for lying to Congress and pulling her “my e-mails” disappeared, I will take this small victory being reported by the AP:
The GOP-controlled House has voted to slash the budget for the Internal Revenue Service’s tax enforcement division by $1.2 billion, a 25 percent cut that would mean fewer audits of taxpayers and make it more likely that people who cheat on their taxes will get away with it. The House approved the cuts by voice vote after little debate Monday night as it took up a $21 billion spending bill that sets the IRS budget.
The IRS doesn’t need reform, it needs to be gutted. The pipe dreams of little fixes hear and there is over. Replace the IRS with a new tax code like the Fairtax.
Unfortunately the Senate led by Harry Reid will not act on this and just table it. More bad news, in a few years the IRS will be full tilt Obamacare enforcement so I would expect more scandals of bigger proportion then Lois Lerner.
Hoosier Econ 