Free Republic

In a broad-ranging compendium requested by one of Congress’s most vocal skeptics about climate change, the Government Accountability Office on Wednesday released an agency-by-agency breakdown of spending related to the politically divisive topic. The report tracks spending since 1993 by agency, category and program. Since 1993, agencies have spent more than $154 billion for “activities to understand and address climate change,” a push that has risen in recent years from about $2.4 billion across 10 agencies in fiscal 1993 to about $13.2 billion across 19 agencies in proposed budget authority for fiscal 2017. In the past seven years, for example,...

President Donald Trump has warned Congress that he will never sign another foot-tall, $1 trillion-plus government-wide spending bill like the one he did in March. His message to lawmakers in both parties: Get your act together before the next budget lands on my desk. After a brief government shutdown earlier this year, Democrats and Republicans now agree on the need for budgeting day-to-day operations of government by the old-fashioned way. That means weeks of open debate and amendments that empower rank-and-file lawmakers, rather than concentrating power in the hands of a few leaders meeting in secret. But Capitol Hill’s dysfunction...

President Donald Trump is set to bump up his request for (FY 19) border-wall funding by $500 million, a new report says. The president will request at least $2.2 billion to build the wall in the budget for the next fiscal year, which begins in September, according to Politico.

There are truths, and there are truth bombs. Occasionally, though, there are truth nukes. Someone asks Corker about fiscal responsibility. He answers, “Yeah, I’m just over it. Nobody cares. The President isn’t going to deal with it, he made it clear in the campaign.” @WRCB— Michelle Heron (@MichelleWRCB) May 18, 2018 Somewhere Paul Ryan is sitting alone amid the rubble of entitlement reform, all alone and sobbing like Burgess Meredith at the end of that “Twilight Zone” episode.In isolation, that tweet makes it sound like Corker is blaming Trump. Not really. Watch the clip below and you’ll find him...

The European Union has unveiled its first long-term budget for the post-Brexit era......coming in at 1.279 trillion euros for the 2021 to 2027 period. ​The departure of Britain, a net contributor, means other member states will have to pay more. ​To plug the gaps there'll be cuts to agricultural subsidies, but also increased contributions to areas considered to be priorities - such as migration and defence. ​EU Budget Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said: "We are going to tackle these problems by saving and by asking the member states to contribute a little bit more. Both saving and spending more, we believe...

Checking the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Public Law 93–344, 88 Stat. 297, 2 U.S.C. §§ 601–688) online: Part B, Section 1011-1012 and related (identified elsewhere as Title X) within the Act (also known as the Impoundment Control Act of 1974), specifies that the President may request that Congress rescind appropriated funds. The timeline for approval by both the house and senate is 45 days.

In January 2016, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected economic growth for 2018 to be 2.3% and for 2019 to be 1.9%   Now the office projects that GDP will expand by 3.3% in 2018 and 2.4% in 2019, and then it will slow down.  Why would anyone believe these people's long-term projections when they are frequently so far off on their short-term projections?  Why do the media report the numbers as if they were gospel when they are just guesses? The tax cuts for individuals and corporations are all still in effect until 2025, so why the massive slowdown after just one...

The political tide has turned against toll roads in Texas, imperiling a Tomball interchange project and hamstringing frustrated local officials, while setting an ominous tone for projects to come. For years, state officials relied on tolls to tackle some of TexasÂ’ biggest traffic messes as a way to build without adding taxes. Since 2016, however, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have taken hard-line stances against the mixing of Texas Department of Transportation money and toll revenues. Most Popular More men accuse former Texas judge, Baptist leader of sexual misconduct Breaking down 2018 Texas A&M football: Quarterback With...

Plenty of Republicans remain bitter that their party passed that bloated $1.3 trillion omnibus—almost as bitter as President Trump, who felt pressured to sign it. But this fight doesn’t have to be over. Across Washington, principled conservatives are noodling with an idea that—if done right—could be a political winner. It’s a chance for Republicans to honor their promises of spending restraint and redeem themselves with a base turned off by the omnibus blowout. It’s an opening for the GOP to highlight the degree to which Democrats used the bill to hold the military hostage to their own domestic boondoggles. And...

Congress last week awarded the department a $2.6 billion boost when Mrs. DeVos had requested a $9 billion cut. She had sought to dismantle her agency’s central budget office, a move she said would create a leaner structure, and to cut the number of field offices in the civil-rights division to four from 12. The spending package included specific measures preventing her from doing so.Much of the additional funding for the department boosted initiatives undertaken by the Obama administration. None went to her signature request, a $1 billion program to expand school choice, though there was a slight increase in...

Ann Coulter: ‘In One Generation’ U.S. Will Be ‘South Africa,’ Trump ‘Betrayed’ Voters with ‘Paul Ryan Republicanism’ "“I can’t imagine how it could be any worse,” Coulter said. “There’s zero funding for the wall, and in fact, he’s prevented from putting up even one little inch from those prototypes. No, all he can do is build a little pedestrian fence. Nothing that he’s been looking at. None of the prototypes, totally banned.” More at link:

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:) In accordance with section 7058(d) of division K of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (H.R. 1625; the “Act”), I hereby designate as an emergency requirement all funding so designated by the Congress in the Act pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, for the accounts referenced in section 7058(d). The details of this action are set forth in the enclosed memorandum from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Sincerely, DONALD J. TRUMP

Checking the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Public Law 93–344, 88 Stat. 297, 2 U.S.C. §§ 601–688) online: Part B, Section 1011-1012 and related (identified elsewhere as Title X) within the Act (also known as the Impoundment Control Act of 1974), specifies that the President may request that Congress rescind appropriated funds. The timeline for approval by both the house and senate is 45 days.

President Donald Trump briefly threatened to veto a giant spending bill on Friday and then reluctantly signed it to keep the military funded. The lack of funding for a border wall with Mexico is likely one of the president’s biggest frustrations. Trump mentioned the wall when he threatened to veto the bill. The $1.3 trillion budget includes just $1.6 billion for wall construction along the southern border, far short of the $25 billion needed to accomplish Trump’s signature campaign promise. To make matters worse, the spending bill specifically prohibits Trump from building the kind of wall he wants. The president...

Full Title: Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate Budget & Spending Issued on: March 23, 2018 Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:) In accordance with section 7058(d) of division K of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (H.R. 1625; the “Act”), I hereby designate as an emergency requirement all funding so designated by the Congress in the Act pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, for the accounts referenced in section 7058(d). The details of this action are...

To the Freepers blaming Trump for the Omnibus: Please state what he should have done including the aftermath. Many wanted a veto, but never address the subsequent steps necessary for a ‘win’. I love Free Republic and the thoughtful, intelligent commentary. Yet I was stunned to see so many comment on various posts with such little insight. Trump cannot write legislation nor can he make politicians do anything. What role do voters play? It seems that most expect Trump to fix everything while we as voters do nothing. We voted for the uniparty. We don’t march on Washington, we send...

POTUS Trump just signed an Omnibus bill, NOT a federal budget! The appropriations in the bill are "suggestions" of how Trump SHOULD spend the money. Since this is not a budget, Trump is not bound by The Constitution to spend the money as appropriated. The Demonrats screwed themselves again by not passing a federal budget. I'm here to tell you that Trump's Wall shall indeed be funded with money from this Omnibus bill! President Donald J. Trump outsmarted these fools, once again!! Haahaa!!

And let's begin by discussing how to maintain economic growth by controlling and eventually eliminating the problem of Federal deficits. We have had a balanced budget only eight times in the last 57 years. For the first time in 14 years, the Federal Government spent less in real terms last year than the year before. We took $73 billion off last year's deficit compared to the year before. The deficit itself has moved from 6.3 percent of the gross national product to only 3.4 percent. And perhaps the most important sign of progress has been the change in our view...

Want some perspective on the debt ceiling negotiations and calls for tax increases in exchange for spending cuts? You might want to consider a cautionary tale dating back to 1982 when President Ronald Reagan agreed to a deficit-reduction compromise—and a result he didn’t bargain for. Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III, who served under President Reagan, and Heritage Action for America’s Michael Needham write in today’s USA Today of the agreement Reagan struck in 1982 in hopes of tackling high deficits. He agreed to a modest increase in business taxes (which he didn’t like) in exchange for spending cuts (which...

You owe it to your country, Sir, to pick them up, dust them off, and ready them for the coming new battle. Unfortunately, Round 2 has already slipped away from ‘Making America Great Again’ to ‘Saving America Again’ It was, as a caller told Rush Limbaugh today, a snake bite in the butt, President Trump. Your suddenly changing course and signing the outrageous Omnibus Bill, that is. Up to now, you’ve done a good job remaining loyal to the things you promised some 63 million people who voted for you. Now many of them will say you are a politician...