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Some people have called for a balanced budget amendment to our Constitution as a means of reining in a big-spending Congress. That’s a misguided vision, for the simple reason that in any real economic sense, as opposed to an accounting sense, the federal budget is always balanced. The value of what we produced in 2017—our gross domestic product—totaled about $19 trillion. If the Congress spent $4 trillion of the $19 trillion that we produced, unless you believe in Santa Claus, you know that Congress must force us to spend $4 trillion less privately. Taxing us is one way that Congress...

Candidate for Senate Dan Liljenquist (left) pledged to The New American that should he be elected to the U.S. Senate he will offer legislation explicitly repealing the indefinite detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). In a press conference held on April 24 at 2:00 p.m. (MDT), the former Utah State Senator and current GOP challenger to six-term Senator Orrin Hatch described the indefinite detention provisions of the NDAA as “an overreach and a violation of the Bill of Rights.” He said that had he been in office when Congress voted to pass the NDAA he would have...

Now comes an opportunity for House and Senate Republicans to push a strong Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA), but not only have House Republicans tossed an interception on the BBA, but they also appear to have preemptively surrendered a touchdown to the liberals on tax policy as part of the Super Committee negotiations. If conservatives want to win, they should take the BBA and the $1.2 trillion in cuts mandated by the Super Committee directly to the American people, who tend to reward politicians who fight tax hikes and push for deep cuts to the federal government.  Yet they seem intent...

Three weeks ago on Tuesday, July 19 the House handily passed the bill known as "Cut, Cap, and Balance" by a vote of 234 to 190. The plan imposed caps on federal spending as a percentage of GDP and allowed a debt ceiling increase of $2.4 trillion in exchange for approval by both the Senate and House of a balanced budget amendment.Three days later, the bill was killed in the Senate on a party line vote of 51 - 46. Harry Reid had effectively proclaimed the bill dead on arrival when he called it "the single worst piece of legislation...

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) -- Little is known about key details that led Standard & Poor's to downgrade U.S. debt late Friday, despite its outsized repurcussions. While the move knocking U.S. debt down a notch from the lofty AAA rating has exacerbated an already skittish stock market and drawn criticism from the White House, key details are a mystery. S&P doesn't say who, exactly, made the decision at the company; what kind of weight they gave U.S. politics versus ability to pay; or to what extent they felt pressured to downgrade the United States in response to criticism of its downgrades of...

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) on NBC's "Meet the Press" and Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod on CBS' "Face the Nation" lead a new propaganda push against the Tea Party movement. First they were "astro-turf", then racist, then stupid, then violent, then dangerous, then terrorists, and now they're responsible for the S & P downgrade even though the Tea Party was pushing for the exact entitlement reforms that would have avoided the downgrade. It's obvious that the White House is fearful that the president will be blamed for the unprecedented downgrade of America's bond rating.

Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the nation’s credit rating gives House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan every right to say “I told you so.” Even earlier this week when President Obama was taking his victory lap for the debt-ceiling compromise, Ryan was disclosing the cold, hard truths of the economic troubles that lie ahead — truths that a jittery Wall Street has been more than aware of. In an oped column in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, the Wisconsin Republican reiterated, of course, that the president really has no budget plan. “The president’s February budget,” he wrote, “deliberately dodged the tough...

A top Obama adviser blames tea party for downgrade WASHINGTON — Who's to blame for the U.S. debt-ceiling mess? Politicians and political advisers took to the airwaves Sunday to point fingers, mostly at each other. David Axelrod, a top political adviser to President Barack Obama, blames the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating on tea party Republicans for being unwilling to compromise on how to reduce the federal debt. The Obama campaign strategist tells CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday that the decision by the Standard & Poor's credit agency to downgrade the U.S. from AAA to AA+ for the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top White House adviser is blaming the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating on tea party Republicans, whom he says were unwilling to compromise on how to reduce the federal debt. The adviser to President Barack Obama, David Axelrod, tells CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday .. ... .. also criticized GOP presidential candidates for not speaking up in favor of compromise.

Kerry Blames The Tea Party For Credit Downgrade By Ben Wolfgang-The Washington Times1 Sen. John Kerry on Sunday laid the blame for the recent downgrade of the nation’s credit rating at the feet of conservative House Republicans. “I believe this is, without question, the tea party downgrade,” Mr. Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Standard & Poor’s rating agency on Friday dropped the U.S. credit rating from AAA to “AA+, questioning the ability of leaders in Washington to deal seriously with the nation’s debt crisis. The Obama administration’s debt-ceiling proposal, which included more spending cuts than the...

“No risk,” Geithner told Fox Business at the time. When asked whether S&P was wrong and that the U.S. would keep its top credit rating, Geithner said, “Absolutely”... Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. said the president should “demand” that Geithner resign “and immediately replace him with someone who will help Washington focus on balancing our budget and allowing the private sector to create jobs.” “For months he opposed all efforts to reduce the debt in return for a debt ceiling increase,” DeMint said. “His opposition to serious spending and debt reforms has been reckless and now the American people will pay...

One day after lowering the nation’s platinum triple-A credit rating, Standard & Poor’s analysts warned Saturday that the U.S. government could face a second downgrade if the economy continues to struggle and the government fails to make the cuts outlined in the debt ceiling agreement. The ratings agency on Friday downgraded the nation to AA+ for the first time in history, saying partisanship in Washington is preventing dramatic deficit reduction.

The decision by credit agency Standard and Poor’s to downgrade America’s AAA credit rating for the first time in 70 years is a massive blow to the credibility of the Obama administration, and a damning indictment of its handling of the economy. No doubt the White House will pathetically try to blame the Bush Administration, Republicans in Congress, and of course its favourite target, the Tea Party, for the move by S&P. But without a shadow of a doubt, responsibility for the country’s financial mess and staggering levels of debt lie with the current US president and his administration. They...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama sought to distance himself Saturday from the bad news of the nation's first-ever credit-rating downgrade, but lawmakers and presidential candidates showed no such reticence—trading salvos over who's at fault and why. The president, spending the weekend at Camp David, left it to press secretary Jay Carney to say it's clear Washington "must do better" in tackling soaring deficits and other economic woes. A statement from Carney said talks that produced Tuesday's $2 trillion compromise on raising the U.S. borrowing limit had been too drawn-out and "divisive." But the statement didn't directly address Friday's move...

U.S. AAA credit rating DOWNGRADED for first time in history after Obama's debt deal Unprecedented move will send shockwaves globally S&P cuts long-term credit rating from AAA to AA+ Borrowing costs for consumers and government to rise Comes after Obama signed bill to reduce fiscal deficit By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 1:08 PM on 6th August 2011 The U.S. has lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's in an unprecedented reversal of fortune for the world's largest economy. S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA+ on concerns about the government's...

Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the nation's credit rating reinforces Democrats' call for increasing tax revenue, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Friday.

S & P has downgraded the United States Credit Rating to AA+ from the AAA rating we had since 1917. It's no suprise since massive spending is still being done on things like green projects, illegal aliens, and useless bureaucrat organizations like the EPA. Decades of foolish Democrat Spending, a few years of foolish Republican Spending, and the spending by Soros Puppet Obama (soon to be more than all other Presidents combined) has harmed the nation that the world depends on. Who will the lazy corrupt Mexican "government" dump their people on without the United States of America? Republicans could...

The Obama administration attacked the credibility of the analysis underlying Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the United States' top credit rating on Friday, saying it had found a $2 trillion error. S&P was forced to remove the number from its analysis after Treasury officials discovered that the rating agency's estimates of the government's discretionary spending was $2 trillion too high, sources familiar with the discussions said.

Obama left the White House for the Camp David presidential retreat outside Washington in late afternoon just hours before S&P's announcement. "He was briefed before he left for Camp David and has been receiving updates through the night," the official said.

• We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to 'AA+' from 'AAA' and affirmed the 'A-1+' short-term rating. • We have also removed both the short- and long-term ratings from CreditWatch negative. • The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics. • More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time...