Downsizing Blog
U.S. Postal Service Likely to Seek “Emergency” Increase in Stamp Prices
The U.S. Postal Service is structured to subsist on the revenues it generates from the sale of its products and services. In recent years, however, USPS expenses have exceeded revenues and the government agency now finds itself effectively broke having maxed out its $15 billion line of credit with the U.S. Treasury.
U.S. Government Spending, 1970-2013
Downsizing Government has a new tool allowing readers to chart spending for more than 500 federal agencies with the click of a mouse. It’s pretty cool. Hopefully it will help citizens, reporters, and policymakers understand how the budget has grown to a colossal $3.5 trillion a year.
Spending Freezes in History
With Congress reconvening, members will soon be battling over discretionary-spending levels for fiscal year 2014, which begins October 1. They will decide whether to abide by current federal budget caps, which are designed to keep discretionary spending roughly flat over the next few years. The problem is that many lawmakers have become so used to rising budgets that a spending freeze seems impossibly tight-fisted to them.
The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same
The following headlines were on a magazine cover I saw over the weekend:
Corporate Welfare Comes in Different Flavors
The New York Times has another example of what could be considered a form of corporate welfare: excessive federal reimbursement rates for anti-anemia drugs used by dialysis centers.
Federal Homeownership Policy: Money for Nothing
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times ran a column repeating the simplistic notion that since homeownership is “good” then subsidies for homeownership must therefore also be “good.” Never asked, or apparently even contemplated, is the question of whether all our various homeownership subsidies actually deliver homeownership.
And Next Year There Will Be an Eighth Budget “Showdown”
The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold counts six budget “showdowns” in Washington over the past two and half year. The looming battle this fall over funding the government and raising the debt ceiling will be number seven. That led Fahrenthold to examine what the six showdowns have accomplished with regard to the size of government.
Ex-Im Loan to Australia’s Richest Person Attracts Opposition
Well, this is awkward. OK, not really. Because despite the fact that a mooted Ex-Im loan will help my homeland (or, more precisely, a company based in my homeland), it is still not ok.
Surge in Disability Claims is a Gold Mine for Law Firms
Combined outlays on Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income have roughly doubled over the last decade and will cost taxpayers almost $200 billion this year. The complex and often subjective disability determination process, which is essentially the same for both programs, has created an opportunity for specialty law firms to grab a piece of the action.
Discussing Social Security Disability Insurance on C-SPAN
This morning, I discussed Social Security Disability Insurance on C-SPAN's Washington Journal: