federal spending

NPR expects to make a profit this year, a surprising state of affairs for a nonprofit. But with the national debate raging about whether the federal government should stop funding public broadcasting, could NPR find itself a victim of its own success?

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.

Goldman Sachs drew some undeserved ire when it recently pointed to proposed cuts in federal spending as a key near-term risk. While the proposed cuts are modest, they could still undermine the rebound at a critical time.

Like all budgets, the federal government's spending plan is all about revenues and expenditures. Unfortunately, Uncle Sam is very good at grossly overestimating tax receipts and grossly underestimating spending. It's enough to make you wonder if any of it is real.

For years, policymakers have reassured the public that Social Security will be solvent for decades. But outlay and income data from the Treasury reveal that Social Security is already deep in the red -- by $76 billion in 2010 alone. That's just the beginning.

BusinessWeek's August 24 cover blares: "The Case for Optimism." As magazines and papers hemorrhage ink in their cheerleading for a supposed end to the recession, it seems like time to take a step back and ask if these are merely "feel-good" features, or if there is any substance to the notion that...

If you're bored with keeping track of where the money goes in your household, try out a relatively new government Web site that tracks where your tax dollars are spent.USASpending.gov offers an easily digestible look into where the government is spending money, with current and historical spending...