CNSNews: (Satire Alert) Best News of the Week 7 Mar 14

Sen. Boxer of spending, President Obama's Budget, IRS investigations - A look at the stories that made the CNSNews.com Best of The Week.

(5 Mar 14, Special Report): Sen Sessions v. OMB Director on 2015 Budget

WASHINGTON, March 6--Last night on Fox News' "Special Report," host Bret Baier played a clip from Ranking Member Sessions' exchange with OMB Director Sylvia Burwell. Under repeated questioning, Burwell refused to answer a simple Yes or No question about whether the President's budget calls for a spending increase above the legal limit that he signed two months ago. In fact, as the Associated Press has reported, his plan "lays waste to the spending caps that the White House and Congress agreed to late last year..." To view an extended video of the exchange, please click here: http://youtu.be/L_GI33A4sRU.

(5 Mar 14) Senator Session's Office Touts Stiff Resistance on Budget

WASHINGTON, March 5--When President Obama submitted his budget yesterday to Congress, the Associated Press observed that it "lays waste to the spending caps that the White House and Congress agreed to late last year..." In the next year alone, the plan would increase spending by $56 billion above the statutory caps, and the total 10-year spending breach would be $791 billion—all funded by a massive proposed tax increase. Yet when President Obama's budget director testified before the Budget Committee today, she refused to even answer a simple question about whether or not the President wants to spend more than the law allows.

CATO Institute: Downsize Dept. of Agriculture

The Department of Agriculture provides an array of subsidies for farmers and imposes extensive regulations on agricultural markets. It operates the food stamp and school lunch programs, and it administers numerous subsidy programs for rural parts of the nation. The Forest Service is also within the Department of Agriculture. The department spent around $150 billion in 2013, or almost $1,300 for every U.S. household. It operates about 240 subsidy programs and employs 93,000 workers in about 7,000 offices across the country.

CATO Institute: Downsize Dept. of Health & Human Services

The Department of Health and Human Services runs the huge and fast-growing Medicare and Medicaid. These programs fuel rising health costs, distort markets, and are plagued by waste and fraud. The department also runs other costly subsidy programs, including Head Start, TANF, and LIHEAP. Growth in HHS spending is creating a federal fiscal crisis, and the 2010 health care law sadly makes the situation worse. The department spent around $908 billion in 2013, or about $7,500 for every U.S. household. It employs 70,000 workers.

CATO Institute: Downsize Dept. of Labor

The Department of Labor's budget is dominated by the costly unemployment insurance system. It also runs numerous employment and job training programs, which are generally ineffective and duplicative of services available in the private sector. And the department oversees an array of labor union laws and workplace regulations that restrict freedom and are costly to workers and businesses. The department spent about $95 billion 2013, or $800 for every U.S. household. It employs 17,000
workers.


 

(1300, 4 Mar 14, CNN): Obama Comments on Ukraine & Budget 2015