spending cuts

Just as the U.S. economy is making progress despite Europe's turmoil, here come two new threats. A congressional panel is supposed to agree by Thanksgiving on a deficit-reduction package of at least $1.2 trillion. If it fails, federal spending would automatically be cut by that amount starting in 2013.

Described as a "fear tactic" by critics, the White House warned Tuesday that if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling soon, come August, millions of Social Security recipients may find themselves without a check. The comments were met with a firestorm of criticism by seniors and their advocates.

It's true that Social Security paid out more than it collected in 2010. But the Trust Fund owns $2.6 trillion in Treasury bonds, and though some people may claim those holdings are an illusion, they aren't. Still, there are some fairly painless steps we could take to shore up the program's balance sheet for the long term.

Unless lawmakers can agree on budget legislation to keep the federal government running, a shutdown at midnight Friday looms. If it happens, there will be a few clear winners, some who break even and a whole lot of losers.

The markets may have had a rough weak as U.S. GDP growth was revised down and Middle East unrest caused oil prices to rise, but the consumer sentiment index rose to its highest level since January 2008. Sentiment has risen for about six months -- an encouraging sign -- but oil prices could sour the mood.

With new faces in Congress, President Obama knows his $3.73 trillion budget will be a hard sell. That's why he took his message to the airwaves this week, making TV appearances and issuing statements calling for "tough choices and sacrifices." A top priority of Obama's budget plan is to hack away...

A parade of Republicans immediately lined up to attack the president's proposed budget this week, claiming the plan falls short of making a real difference. They're right. And that's good, because really deep reductions are the last thing the economy needs right now.

President Obama's proposed spending plan seeks to slash $1.1 trillion from the deficit over the next decade. Republican House Speaker John Boehner says that's too little. In this case, both Obama and Boehner are wrong. The nation doesn't need to spend less. It needs to spend more -- a lot more.

Many people blame America's high unemployment rate on a mismatch between workers' skills and the fields with open jobs. But jobs are scarce across all sectors. That means effective policies are needed to stimulate demand and rebuild economic output.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama didn't shy away from tackling the ongoing questions about the health care reform law head on. And though he opened with a joke, he made it clear that while he's serious about repairing any flaws in the law, repeal is not an option.