One CBO report: Two fast, political reactions
Washington (CNN) – Republicans and Democrats reacted with lightning speed and polarizing conclusions to a new report on the minimum wage released Tuesday.
To the GOP, it is evidence that Democrats' policies would cut jobs; to Democrats, it shows that Republicans' ideas would keep more people in poverty.
Raising minimum wage would ease poverty but cost some jobs
New York (CNNMoney) - Raising the federal minimum wage would boost the incomes of most low-wage workers but result in job loss for some, according to an analysis released Tuesday.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that gradually raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would reduce total employment by about 500,000 workers, or 0.3% of the workforce.
FULL STORY5 tests for kumbaya on Capitol Hill
Washington (CNN) - 2013 ended with Congress reaching a deal on funding the government without all the end-of-the-year drama that we've come to expect. Democrats and Republicans defied the recent all-or-nothing gamesmanship and brokered a budget deal before its deadline, prompting speculation that maybe, just maybe, dogs and cats can live together.
Here are five things on both President Barack Obama's and Congress' agendas that will show pretty quickly whether breaking the partisan logjam in the capital is possible or just a fantasy.
Immigration bill could cut deficits by $175 billion – CBO
New York (CNNMoney) - A bipartisan Senate bill that would create a path to legal status for many of the 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the United States could reduce deficits by $175 billion over the first 10 years and by at least $700 billion in the second decade.
That's according to an analysis released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
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CBO: Spending cuts and tax increases slowing growth
New York (CNNMoney) - The looming $85 billion in spending cuts coupled with new tax increases will slow economic growth considerably this year.
But the economy is likely to pick up steam in 2014, pushing unemployment down and setting the stage for a rise in interest rates and inflation.
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Deficit tops $1 trillion for 4th straight year
New York (CNNMoney) - The federal government logged a $1.1 trillion deficit in fiscal year 2012 - marking the fourth straight year of trillion-dollar shortfalls.
As a share of the economy, the deficit fell to roughly 7%, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates released Friday. That's down from 8.7% in 2011, and well below the bruising 10.1% recorded in 2009 during the depth of the economic downturn.
Deficits as a share of GDP in the past four years have been the highest since 1947.
Romney: CBO report findings 'unacceptable'
(CNN) – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday referred to a new Congressional Budget Office report that outlines the potentially dismal impact of the impending "fiscal cliff" as "unacceptable."
The CBO report found that the spending cuts and tax increases would result in a recession and higher unemployment. However, the report also said it would improve the outlook of the federal government's budget deficit.
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Fiscal cliff to improve debt outlook but cause recession
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - If the so-called fiscal cliff takes effect in 2013, the U.S. deficit outlook will improve, but scheduled tax increases and spending cuts would push the country into recession and unemployment up to 9%.
That's one of the main takeaways from an analysis Wednesday by the Congressional Budget Office, which released its updated budget and economic projections for 2012 through 2022.
FULL STORY
Romney adviser unsure when Romney budget would balance
(CNN) - Mitt Romney's senior adviser Ed Gillespie said Wednesday in a CNN interview that he did not know when his candidate would balance the federal budget, the day after Romney's new vice presidential candidate, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, said the campaign had not yet "run the numbers."
Romney, meanwhile, was on the campaign trail this week praising Ohio Gov. John Kasich's understanding "that it's government's job to balance budgets" and saying his plan would "get us to a balanced budget faster than the plan [Ryan] originally put forward" - while providing few details about how he would balance the federal budget, which he said in June would be reached "within eight to 10 years."
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CBO: Hard choices ahead on debt
New York (CNNMoney) - The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday painted a stark picture of the country's fiscal future, which will be determined in part by tough choices lawmakers face in the coming months on the federal budget.
The CBO, the nonpartisan official beancounter in Washington, painted two scenarios for Congress.
FULL STORY
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