federal budget deficit

President Barack Obama on Monday sent Congress a new budget that seeks to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade while at the same time showering billions of dollars of increased spending on areas aimed at giving the economy a quick boost.

As the federal super committee looks for $1.5 trillion in cuts, it's clear that fixing the federal budget will mean tackling big items -- including Medicare, America's most popular social program and one of its most expensive.

Think you can do better than Congress in coming up with a balanced U.S. budget? Several smartphone apps let you play along with all the fiscal fun happening in Washington. Raise taxes on market speculators? Cut spending on social services? You decide, and these apps will show you the results.

Washington now spends that much more than it did a mere three years ago. But trying to figure out what we're getting for all that extra money is no simple matter. A lot of slicing and dicing does yield some answers -- none of which are very satisfying.

The noted economist writes in a Financial Times editorial that Obama did plenty to stave off a depression. But his administration is already too timid about further stimulus, and once the GOP gains power in Congress, the policy prescriptions will become even more feeble.

It's funny how government budget cuts trickle down to everyday people. I live in California, which ranks second on U.S. News & World Report's "pain index" of states that have suffered the biggest budget pains and have been forced to institute both tax increases and spending cuts. I can say...