Before the Speech Begins – Emily Goff: Previewing tonight’s speech this past weekend, Mr. Obama said: “We can go in two directions. One is towards less opportunity and less fairness. Or we can fight for…building an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few.” The President must not understand that an economy based on free-enterprise with limited government involvement will, in fact, work for and benefit more than just the wealthy. His administration’s idea of an economy that works involves imposing heavy-handed government regulations and threatening tax increases at … More

President Obama will release his annual budget proposal late yet again. Choosing the date is not merely a convention. By law, the President must release the budget by the first Monday in February, which falls on February 6 this year. Yet yesterday the Administration announced it will release its fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget a week late, marking the third such delay in four years. Right now, when the economy is struggling, annual deficits consistently exceed $1 trillion, and Americans are demanding that Washington govern responsibly, this delay is beyond … More

President Obama will release his annual budget proposal late yet again. Choosing the date is not merely a convention. By law, the President must release the budget by the first Monday in February, which falls on February 6 this year. Yet yesterday the Administration announced it will release its fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget a week late, marking the third such delay in four years. Right now, when the economy is struggling, annual deficits consistently exceed $1 trillion, and Americans are demanding that Washington govern responsibly, this delay is beyond … More

I propose this simple New Year’s resolution for Congress, pass a budget before borrowing any more money. Today marks the 1,000th day without a budget from Senate Democrats. The last time they passed a budget, you had never heard of the iPad. Tiger Woods was only known for his golfing abilities. General Motors had never declared bankruptcy. You had never heard of Swine flu. Despite the lack of a spending plan, or perhaps because of that, Washington’s borrowing and spending continues out of control. The president recently asked Congress for … More

Tuesday, January 24, will mark the 1,000th day since the U.S. Senate has passed a budget—an egregious dereliction of duty on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D–NV) watch. By enacting continuing resolution upon continuing resolution (short-term measures to keep the government running, spending money at the current rate), the Senate has taken a pass on leading, all to the detriment of the poor and middle class. The budget process forces Congress to set priorities to protect the people’s money and put it to its appropriate use. Instead, the Democrat-controlled Senate has abdicated its responsibility. … More

Dark clouds hover over the nation’s finances and threaten a perfect storm of massive debt and crushing taxation unless Congress starts acting—soon. Washington must demonstrate that it is serious about reining in ever-rising spending and reducing annual deficits. Passing commonsense reforms to our major entitlement programs (Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security), the main drivers of future spending and annual deficits, is crucial. As the population ages and health care costs rise, spending on entitlements is projected to more than double by 2050, as this Heritage Budget Chart Book chart shows. … More

Last week, The Heritage Foundation co-hosted the launch of the 2012 Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI), a new tool giving insight into the effect that various drivers of entrepreneurship have on economic development in countries around the world. Two crucial findings from the 2012 GEDI emerged at the conference: The drivers of productive entrepreneurship have deteriorated globally.… In almost all countries high-growth entrepreneurship has suffered the most. Ambassador Terry Miller, director of Heritage’s Center for International Trade and Economics, also highlighted a key finding from the forthcoming 2012 Index … More

Just how high is America’s tax burden? How bad is the entitlement crisis? Sure, the national debt is big, but just how big is it really? Numbers help tell the story, but as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. This year, people turned to Heritage to get the answers in the 2011 Budget Chartbook. Listed below are the top ten charts from Heritage’s Budget Chartbook as determined by pageviews. Defense Spending Has Declined While Entitlement Spending Has Increased Federal Revenues Have More Than Tripled Since 1965 Tax … More

Given the sad state of our economy, the bad investment climate, and the danger posed by profligate federal spending and ever-increasing government regulation, American entrepreneurs have to plan very carefully about where to locate new plants, stores, and other facilities when they expand an existing business or start a new one. If you are a business owner facing such a decision, here are 10 places where you should not invest your money or locate your business: Philadelphia, California, West Virginia, South Florida, Madison County, Illinois, St. Clair County, Illinois, McLean … More

The House mega-omni—the massive nine-bill appropriations package now moving toward a vote in the House—represents another disappointing failure to cut spending and prove Congress can instill some measure of fiscal discipline. Equally troubling: The procedure for considering the legislation allows everyone to vote for something he likes, while taxpayers pick up the tab. The main omnibus measure, formally the Final Consolidated Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3671), spends a total of $914.8 billion in annualized budget authority (BA) for fiscal year 2012, which started on October 1. (Agencies covered by the nine … More