| Congress Fails to Act on Tax Legislation as Clock Winds Down |
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08/05/2008
Congress left town for the month-long August recess having failed four times to act on a popular package of tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of 2008. With only three weeks in session left in September before the door is expected to close on the 110th Congress, and with remaining differences between opposing sides, there is still significant work to be done before $123 billion in tax cuts can become law.
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| Contracting Reform Agenda Makes Gains |
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08/05/2008
When President Bush signed the FY 2008-2009 war supplemental bill into law on June 30, he approved a pair of contracting reforms that had long been stalled in Congress. The enactment of these provisions has validated the legislative strategy of reform-minded legislators to pass federal contracting measures.
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| Debt Ceiling Lifted to $10.615 Trillion |
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07/30/2008
When the President signed the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 (HR 3221) into law on July 30, he also approved a provision to increase the national debt ceiling by $800 billion to $10.615 trillion. Today, the national debt totals $9.5 trillion (see the national debt clock at the bottom of this page). However, when President Bush took office, that figure was $5.7 trillion.
This will mark the sixth time in the last seven years that Congress has increased the debt limit (see chart below). Most of those increases came during Republican control of Congress, although the last two increases have been while Democrats control both chambers.
National Debt Ceiling Increases, 2002 - 2008
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| Year | Increase (billions) | Debt Limit (trillions) |
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| 2002 | $450 | $6.400 |
| 2003 | $984 | $7.384 |
| 2004 | $800 | $8.184 |
| 2006 | $781 | $8.965 |
| 2007 | $850 | $9.815 |
| 2008 | $800 | $10.615 |
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| Source: The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases, CRS, 2008 |
Read our commentary on the BudgetBlog
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| Appropriations Breakdown Threatens Federal Investments |
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07/22/2008
As the FY 2009 appropriations process grinds to a halt, a new OMB Watch analysis of the past nine fiscal years reveals that the nation's priorities are better served when Congress and the president work together to complete the annual appropriations process. Congress's abandonment of the FY 2009 appropriations process increases the risk that the resources critical to vital government supports will be further constrained as both sides of the aisle simply refuse to work toward agreement on FY 2009 appropriations legislation.
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