This is how a front-page story by Lori Montgomery in January 27th’s Washington Post portrayed the cause of this year’s $1.5 trillion deficit:

Record U.S. Deficit Projected This Year
CBO forecasts tax cuts will push budget gap to $1.5 trillion

The still-fragile economy and fresh tax cuts approved by Congress last month will drive the federal deficit to nearly $1.5 trillion this year, the biggest budget gap in U.S. history, congressional budget analysts said Wednesday.

Federal spending and federal tax revenue play equally important roles in creating the federal budget deficit. In fact, the federal government, despite the recession and tax … Continue Reading

Staff writer Lori Montgomery wrote an article in the September 20th Washington Post that says because of Congress’s recent spending streak and our skyrocketing national debt, letting the Bush tax cuts expire will bring in more tax revenue to the government and consequently lower the deficit. She writes:

Today, the economy is sluggish and the national debt is soaring to worrisome levels. As lawmakers bicker over whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, not just for the middle class but also for the wealthy, many economists and budget analysts say there’s a simple way to curb borrowing: Let the

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Covering the impending Democratic spend-a-thon in Congress in the May 24th Washington Post, Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray write:

With the national debt at its highest level in nearly 60 years, the question of whether to cut spending — and if so, how — is pitting liberals against conservatives, and Congress against the president. The White House has proposed a three-year freeze in programs unrelated to national security and warned House leaders Friday that it might go further, targeting the Defense Department for cuts.

The problem with this reporting is that President Obama’s “spending freeze” exempts far more than just “national security” … Continue Reading

Reporting on the White House’s final push to pass their health care reform bill, Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray write in the March 3rd Washington Post:

Reconciliation is a procedure created in 1974 to help lawmakers advance politically difficult budget legislation, particularly measures that reduce the deficit. It has been used 22 times by both parties since 1980 to promote a variety of policies, including overhauling the welfare system, creating COBRA health benefits for people who lose their jobs, and cutting taxes in two huge packages championed by President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003.

This is all true but … Continue Reading

Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery report in the October 24th The Washington Post:

Democratic leaders in the Senate and House have concluded that a government-run insurance plan is the cheapest way to expand health coverage, and they sought Friday to rally support for the idea, prospects for which have gone in a few short weeks from bleak to bright.

Murray and Montgomery first note:

In an early estimate of the House bill, the Congressional Budget Office forecast that fewer than 12 million people would buy insurance through the government plan.

This is true, by itself, but then Murray and Montgomery later report:

Because a

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The March 31, Washington Post does a fairly responsible job today when discussing the Social Security trust fund and its implications for the federal budget. In an article entitled, “Recession Puts a Major Strain on Social Security Trust Fund,” reporter Lori Montgomery explains:

With unemployment rising, the payroll tax revenue that finances Social Security benefits for nearly 51 million retirees and other recipients is falling, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office. As a result, the trust fund’s annual surplus is forecast to all but vanish next year — nearly a decade ahead of schedule — and

… Continue Reading

Ceci Connolly and Lori Montgomery have an article in the February 21 Washington Post today titled “Obama Plans Summit Next Week On Long-Term Budget Difficulties.” The article does a fine job describing the profligacy of the current Administration writing:

First as a senator and then as president, Obama has presided over the fastest, largest outlay of federal money since World War II. Over the past 12 months, the government has pumped more than $2 trillion into initiatives to ease the nation’s financial and economic crisis, driving the federal deficit to historic proportions.

However, the authors go on to understate the threat … Continue Reading