Don’t look now, but U.S. labor markets appear to be churning in the wrong direction, as the unemployment rate jumped to 3.9 percent in February, and the unemployment level hit a new high for this cycle at almost 6.5 million, up 760,000 from its low this cycle of 5.7 million in Dec. 2022, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Read the full storyTag: spending
Report: Tennessee Student and Teacher Spending Rose, So Did Education Debt
Tennessee schools saw an 18.4% increase in inflation-adjusted per student funding between 2002 and 2020, according to a new report.
Spending on employee benefits increased by 56.5% over the same period, according to Reason Foundation’s Education Spending Across 50 States report.
Read the full storyLee’s Budget Proposal Has Sharp Spending Cuts, Report Shows
After several years of rapidly increasing spending and tax collections, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has proposed a budget that would spend nearly $10 billion less next year.
That includes $52.6 billion in spending with $25.4 billion from the state and $19.8 billion from federal funds.
Read the full storyDeSantis Calls for Constitutional Reforms to Address Spending, Border
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday that he is calling for constitutional reforms to hold leadership in Washington D.C. accountable for the crisis Americans face due to weak border policies and unchecked spending.
The second-term GOP governor and former presidential candidate is calling for a balanced federal budget, congressional term limits, laws being made equally applicable for citizens and members of Congress and line-item veto authority for the president.
Read the full storyNearly $280M Behind Tax Collection Estimates, Tennessee Adjusts Revenue Predictions
Tennessee has now collected $279.9 million less than budgeted through the first five months of the fiscal year.
December’s $1.9 billion in collections were $82.5 million less than budgeted In numbers released Friday afternoon.
Read the full storyAnalysis Ties Surge in Inflation to Increased Spending, Value of Debt
The U.S. government and those of other countries could be using higher inflation to lessen the value of growing public debt resulting from increased spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis by a Harvard economist working with The Heritage Foundation.
The study covers government spending from 2020 through 2022, the high point of the pandemic, and looked at the U.S. and 20 other economies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD.
Read the full storyFederal Debt Up $6.2 Trillion Under Biden – $47,462 per Household
The federal debt increased by $6,238,231,285,652.06 between Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was inaugurated, and Jan. 2, 2023, the last day for which the debt has been reported.
That equals $47,462.84 for each of the 131,434,000 households that the Census Bureau estimates were in the United States in 2023.
Read the full storyHouse Freedom Caucus Calls Speaker Johnson’s Proposed Spending Deal with Schumer ‘Total Failure’
The conservative House Freedom Caucus slammed House Speaker Mike Johnson’s proposed top-line spending deal with Senate Democrats as a “total failure,” arguing the potential agreement costs about $68 billion more than the Louisiana Republican said it would.
Read the full storySpeaker Johnson Announces Spending Deal to Avert Shutdown
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday said Congressional leaders reached a topline spending deal to avert a federal government shutdown by providing funding through the rest of the fiscal year.
Read the full storyMeet the Leaders in Congress Who Helped Amass a Staggering $34 Trillion in National Debt
The national debt continues to rise sharply to record levels during the ongoing debate in Congress over the next federal spending bill.
The federal government has already piled another $383 billion onto the debt so far into the 2024 fiscal year, which began on October 1.
Read the full storyReport: Economic Recession Coming for the U.S.
A new economic analysis of the U.S. economy projects a recession around the corner.
An international nonprofit, The Conference Board, has released its Leading Economic Indicators report, which projects into the next year for the U.S. economy. That analysis, among other things, projects high inflation, high interest rates and declining consumer spending.
Read the full storyWisconsin Gov. Evers Announces $36 Million in Spending; Republicans Criticize
There is a new round of criticism for Gov. Tony Evers for his latest round of federal coronavirus spending.
On Thursday, the governor announced plans to spend $36 million on a list of projects.
Read the full storyCommentary: Oh Great, Another ‘Debt Commission’
Recognizing the precarious plight of the nation’s fiscal situation, newly installed House Speaker Mike Johnson has called for a bi-partisan commission to study the nation’s debt. Everyone involved in federal fiscal policy for a length of time surely responded with some variation on, “Good grief, Charlie Brown.” Congress has formed and ignored innumerable such groups over many decades.
Read the full storyU.S. Senator Bill Hagerty Blasts Continuing Resolution for Failure to Include ‘Serious Border-Security Measures’
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) blasted the passage of the 45 day Continuing Resolution that included no spending cuts and failed to properly increase funding for U.S. border security.
The bill passed the House on Saturday in a 335 to 91 vote, then passed the Senate in an 88 to 9 vote, and was signed into law by President Biden just hours before the midnight deadline on Saturday, when funding for the 2022-2023 federal fiscal year. The bill continues funding the government at 2022-2023 levels until November 15.
Read the full storyGaetz to Seek McCarthy Ouster after Shutdown Drama
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz declared Sunday he will seek to oust Kevin McCarthy as House speaker after a drama-filled scramble to pass a federal budget forced a last-minute temporary spending bill that required Democrat votes to pass.
Read the full storyTennessee U.S. Reps. Burchett, DesJarlais, Green, Harshbarger, Ogles, and Rose Vote No on McCarthy’s Fiscally Reckless Continuing Resolution, Hagerty and Blackburn Vote No in Senate
Six of Tennessee’s nine member delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives voted “no” on Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s last-minute 45 day Continuing Resolution Saturday afternoon. Late Saturday, the U.S. Senate passed the bill in an 88 to 9 vote, just a few hours before the midnight deadline when the current fiscal year ends.
Read the full storyCommentary: The New Right Cares About More than Taxes
New research is challenging assumptions about the Republican Party’s core values, showing the GOP of the 2020s is an entirely different animal from the GOP of the 2010s. The research captures an increasing shift toward populism and America First priorities that has been growing since Former President Trump’s election in 2016.
The study by American Compass divides Republicans into two camps, the Old Right and the New Right, based on their economic priorities and approach to cultural issues.
Read the full storyHaley Lays Out Economic ‘Freedom Plan,’ Packed with Promises of Tax Cuts, Entitlement Reform and Regulatory Relief
Declaring that it’s time for Washington to start working for Americans and not the other way around, GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley laid out her economic “Freedom Plan in a speech Friday in New Hampshire.
The former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador is proposing a litany of middle-class tax cuts, regulatory relief and “third rail” entitlement reforms in a proposal she asserts will check communist China aggression through American prosperity.
Read the full storyGeorgia’s Tourism Industry Broke Records Last Year with Out-of-State Travelers Spending over $39.8 Billion
Tourism in the Peach State broke records last year, according to new data by the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD).
Read the full storyCommentary: House Freedom Caucus Wants To Do Something About Out of Control Spending
On Monday, the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) struck a blow in the fight for fiscal displume. In a 431-word statement, the conservative House Republicans put Official Washington on notice that when Congress returned in September and took up the seemingly annual short-term spending bill known as a “Continuing Resolution,” the HFC would not vote to fund business as usual. Instead, HFC members would only support a short-term spending bill to keep the government open if it also included several of their key policy priorities – policy priorities that would represent significant shifts in key areas of government policy.
Read the full storyHouse Conservatives Say Any Spending Bill Must Address Border Security, DOJ Weaponization
The House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative lawmakers in the House, outlined Monday what conditions would need to be met for them to vote for a new spending bill.
The group is calling for spending bills to include provisions on border security, the “unprecedented weaponization” of the Justice Department and FBI, and the Pentagon’s “cancerous woke polices.” The lawmakers also oppose “any blank check for Ukraine in any supplemental appropriations bill.”
Read the full storyCommentary: Could the Baby Boomer Retirement Wave and Labor Shortages Absorb the Recession?
The national unemployment rate dipped to 3.5 percent in July, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, once again hitting more than 50-year lows.
It’s still peak employment as far as the eye can see. Even with the past two years’ high inflation dropping dramatically and disinflation usually correlating with higher unemployment and a recession, that simply has not occurred yet, despite all the warning signs typically associated with an economic slowdown or downturn.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Educational Establishment’s Radical New Ploys
Increased spending, common good bargaining, community schools and transitional kindergarten will not improve student learning.
A Gallup poll released earlier this month shows that just 28% of Americans have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in K-12 public schools. The number for Republicans is particularly damning: Just 14% of GOPers view education in a positive light.
Read the full storyGeorgia Again Reports Decreased Tax Collections in June
Georgia reported decreased monthly tax collections for the fourth consecutive month.
Georgia’s net tax collections of more than $2.8 billion in June decreased 0.4 percent, or $10.9 million, compared to a year ago. The Peach State reported decreased tax collections in March, April and May.
Read the full storyMichigan Republicans, Democrats Disagree over Spending in 2024 Budget
Michigan Democrats are celebrating a record $82 billion budget for 2024 that Republicans say is wasteful and unsustainable without future tax hikes.
It’s the first budget crafted by a Democrat political trifecta in 40 years, which includes rollbacks of the state’s retirement tax on seniors and quintupled the Working Families Tax Credit.
Read the full storyRepublican Tax Cuts Headed for Budget Showdown
The $4.4 billion tax cut plan approved by Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol is the latest piece of the new state budget that Gov. Tony Evers is promising not to sign.
Republicans on Thursday okayed a tax cut package that will lower income taxes for everyone, but will give top earners in the state a larger tax cut.
Read the full storySenate Passes Compromise Debt Deal to Avert Default
The U.S. Senate on Thursday evening passed a compromise deal to suspend the debt ceiling until after the presidential election while capping the rate of spending growth in subsequent years.
Read the full storyHaley Hits Trump and DeSantis over Their Support of ‘Reckless’ Debt Ceiling Deal in 2018
As congress weighs another “deal” to raise the national debt limit, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is blasting the two leading contestants for the GOP nomination for their support of a “reckless” debt ceiling agreement in 2018.
The former South Carolina governor points out that Governor Ron DeSantis was a member of congress who voted for a 2018 bill to increase the nation’s debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion.
Read the full storyHouse Passes Compromise Deal to Suspend Debt Ceiling, Cut Spending
The House of Representatives on Wednesday evening passed a bipartisan deal to suspend the debt ceiling and cut spending ahead of a June 5 deadline to avert a national default.
Read the full storyDeSantis Blasts McCarthy Over Budget Deal for ‘Careening Towards Bankruptcy’
by Harold Hutchison Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida ripped House Speaker Kevin McCarthy early Monday over the debt ceiling deal, calling it “totally inadequate” when it came to addressing spending. “Prior to this deal, Kayleigh, our country was careening toward bankruptcy and after this deal, our country will still be careening toward bankruptcy,” DeSantis said to “Fox and Friends” guest host Kayleigh McEnany. “To say you can do $4 trillion of increases in the next year and a half, I mean, that is massive amount of spending,” DeSantis continued. “I think that we’ve gotten ourselves on a trajectory, really since March of 2020 with some of the COVID spending and totally reset the budget and they are sticking with that and I think that is totally inadequate to get us in a better spot.” McCarthy released the text of the Fiscal Responsibility Act on Sunday evening, which increases the debt ceiling through Jan. 1, 2025, taking it past the 2024 presidential election. The House is expected to vote on the legislation on Wednesday, following a 72-hour period for members to read the bill, a provision of the rules changes proposed by the Freedom Caucus and agreed to by McCarthy prior to his election as speaker.…
Read the full storyGOP-Led House Expected to Vote Wednesday on Debt Limit Compromise Legislation
The GOP-led House is expected to vote Wednesday on the legislation resulting from a compromise between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden on the debt limit.
Read the full storyCommentary: Any Debt ‘Default’ Will Be Biden’s Choice
There’s enough revenue to pay interest on the debt even if the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling is reached.
Meaning, if the U.S. defaults on the debt on June 1, it will be because President Joe Biden chose not to make principal and interest payments on U.S. Treasuries out of existing revenue, for which there is more than ample revenues to service and refinance up to the current debt ceiling limit, $31.4 trillion.
Read the full storyReport: Wisconsin Tax Collections Projections Come in Lower Than Expected
Wisconsin state tax collections over the next three years are projected to come in more than three-quarters of a billion dollars lower than expected, according to a new report from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
Republican lawmakers say the revised projections further underscore their efforts to remake a more fiscally responsible biennial budget out of Democrat Governor Tony Evers’ big-spending proposal.
Read the full storyWhitmer Celebrates $28M Selfridge Air National Guard Base Spending
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined federal, state, and local leaders to break ground on a 41,900 square-foot facility to transform two hangars into a new hangar equipped for fighter maintenance at Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
The new facility will house maintenance on the main level and leadership/staff offices and classrooms on the second floor.
Read the full storyCrom’s Crommentary: The Battle of the 99 Percent and the 1 Percent of Democrat Party Elites
Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, guest host Aaron Gulbransen welcomed original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
Read the full storyTennessee U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett One of Four Republicans to Vote Against Debt Ceiling Bill
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 on Wednesday, which would increase the debt limit for one year by $1.5 trillion and reduce the growth of domestic spending. The vote was 217-215.
Read the full storyCommentary: The ‘Limit, Save, Grow’ Plan’s Discretionary Spending Caps that Save More than $3 Trillion Might Not Be Enough
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and the House Republican majority have unveiled their spending plan for the next decade, the Limit, Save, Grow Act, that will be tied to a $1.5 trillion increase in the $31.4 trillion national debt ceiling, the centerpiece of which imposes discretionary budget caps beginning in 2024, but which will be set at 2022 levels, which could save more than $3.2 trillion over the next decade, according to an estimate by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
While an official score still has not come in from the Congressional Budget Office, the proposal stands out as a promise kept on McCarthy’s part to use the must-pass debt ceiling to restore some semblance of fiscal sanity to the out-of-control federal budget and national debt, the latter of which the White House Office of Management and Budget projects will rise to a gargantuan $50.7 trillion by 2033.
Read the full storyCrom’s Crommentary: America’s Standard of Living Has Peaked and Is Slowly Going Down
Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
Read the full storyAmericans for Prosperity Warns Wisconsin Lawmakers Against Spending Too Much
There was one group at Wisconsin’s budget hearing pushing for less. Americans for Prosperity warned Wisconsin lawmakers about spending too much of the state’s record $7.1 billion surplus.
Americans For Prosperity Wisconsin this week waited through hours of requests for more money at the legislature’s public budget hearings to make the simple case to spend less.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Interest Alone on the National Debt Will Hit $1 Trillion in 2024 as Reserve Currency Status Is Questioned
Gross interest owed on the $31.4 trillion national debt — that is, interest owed on both the $24.9 trillion publicly traded debt and the $6.7 trillion debt in the Social Security, Medicare and other trust funds — will reach a gargantuan $1 trillion in 2024 for the first time in American history, according to the latest data gathered by the White House Office of Management and budget.
To put that into perspective, that is more than is spent on national defense related spending, currently $814 billion.
Read the full storyCommentary: Governor Shapiro’s First Budget Falls Short
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s first state budget proposal perpetuates unsustainable spending and fails to address the most promising ideas he put forward during his campaign. For starters, his budget calls for $45.9 billion in ongoing General Fund spending – but the state has only $43 billion in net revenues, so the governor is positioning us for a nearly $3 billion annual deficit.
Spending that exceeds revenue is unsustainable and fiscally irresponsible for individuals, businesses, and certainly for government.
Read the full storyLeft-Wing Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidate Janet Protasiewicz Skips Another Debate
Another candidate forum, another no-show for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz.
The far left Milwaukee County Judge was apparently too busy to attend Tuesday’s Milwaukee Press Club Newsmaker Luncheon, as she was for last week’s American Constitution Society debate.
Read the full storyCommentary: Despite ‘Strong’ Rhetoric, Biden Administration Signals Gloomy Economic Outlook
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the now-released President’s Budget is projecting just 0.6 percent in inflation-adjusted real growth of the U.S. economy in 2023 as the unemployment rate is expected to rise to 4.3 percent in 2023 and peak at 4.6 percent in 2024 after the economy is finished overheating from the continued, elevated inflation, consumers max out on credit and spending falls off a cliff.
Read the full storyVirginia General Assembly Adjourns after Passing ‘Stopgap’ Budget, No Final Deal
The politically-divided Virginia General Assembly agreed on a “stopgap” budget bill before lawmakers adjourned the legislative session Saturday, with lawmakers indicating work remains to reach a final deal on amendments to the state’s two-year state spending plan.
Without an agreement reached on key aspects of proposed amendments to the state’s budget – including $1 billion in tax cuts proposed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin – the legislature agreed to pass what House Appropriations Committee Chair Del. Barry Knight described as a “stopgap” budget with just a few items.
Read the full storyU.S. Projected to Tack on $19 Trillion in Debt over Next Decade as Spending Soars
The U.S. is likely to add $19 trillion more to the national debt in the next 10 years, which is $3 trillion higher than previously expected, new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predictions show.
By the end of 2023, the CBO projects the deficit to be $1.4 trillion, and it will continue to average about $2 trillion annually, raising the debt to about $52 trillion. The CBO report indicates that the rise in the deficit is a result of bipartisan legislation coupled with the Federal Reserve’s hike in interest rates.
Read the full storyEvers Looks to Freeze Wisconsin’s Popular School Choice Program in Latest Budget
Governor Tony Evers is getting pushback again for his latest plan to freeze out Wisconsin’s popular parental school choice program.
The Democrat, as he did in his last budget plan, is proposing to freeze enrollment in schools participating in private school choice program beginning in the 2024-25 school year at 2023-24 levels.
Read the full storyCommentary: Spending Limits in Iowa Can Provide Property Tax Relief
Property taxes are a concern for taxpayers across the nation. Iowans, just as with many other states, are confronted with skyrocketing property taxes. The reason for high property taxes is local government spending. Spending drives taxes. This is the main reason why past property tax reforms in Iowa have failed to provide relief.
Montana state Rep. Caleb Hinkle understands that spending is driving higher property tax bills. To remedy this solution, he has introduced a local government spending limitation that will help slow the growth of local government spending and provide much-needed property tax relief.
Read the full storyGovernor Evers’ Veterans Budget Includes More Spending, No Mention of Union Grove
The preview for Governor Evers’ budget for veterans in Wisconsin focuses on hiring more state workers, and doesn’t even mention the troubled veterans home at Union Grove.
The governor unveiled his proposal Thursday.
Read the full storyTennessee Senator Blackburn Readies for Debt-Ceiling Fight
Having received an appointment to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee this week, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is poised to play a major role in this year’s fight over raising the debt ceiling.
Earlier this week, Blackburn joined her Utah Republican colleague Mike Lee in penning a letter, signed by 22 of their fellow senators, insisting a rise in the federal debt limit must only happen as part of a deal to pare back government spending. In an interview with The Tennessee Star, Blackburn explained her view that fiscal circumstances demand such an agreement so debt does not snowball into an even more unmanageable burden on American families.
Read the full storyFlorida’s DeSantis Seeks Tax Relief in Proposed $114 Billion Budget
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a news conference in Tallahassee Wednesday to discuss his “Framework for Freedom” budget.
DeSantis’ proposed $114.8 billion budget contains some tax relief measures as the economy in the Sunshine State has performed far better than other states. Last year the state surplus was over $20 billion, and DeSantis stated that this money needs to go back to the people.
Read the full story