budget

US President Donald Trump called for defense spending cuts during a Cabinet meeting on October 17th. In fact, he asked all cabinet members to institute budget cuts of at least 5% for their departments in 2019.
Speaking to the press prior to the Cabinet meeting, Trump spoke of his plan to ask every secretary to make a cut of 5% “if not more” in 2019. This is a result of data by the Treasury Department, which was released on October 15ththat showed the US budget deficit rose to its highest level since 2012.

When it comes to progressive proposals aimed at social well-being, the associated costs are always the first explanation for why such efforts are either unrealistic “pie in the sky“.
Medicare for All. But how you gonna pay for it?

Some of our special stories in February focused on the release of the so-called “Nunes Memo”, the US system of perpetual warfare, and the growing risk of confrontations in Syria, North Korea and Iran. “Outpouring of Support Honors Robert Parry”…Read more →

On Tuesday, the Senate voted down a resolution that would have withdrawn US support for the Saudi-led war on Yemen, choosing instead to continue to illegally assist what the UN has called “the world’s largest humanitarian crisis,” reports Dennis J.…Read more →

Calls by Trump for a new ‘Space Force’ could further the potential of an armed showdown between US and foreign powers, such as China and Russia, reports Dennis J Bernstein in this interview with peace activist Bruce Gagnon. By Dennis…Read more →

The American defense establishment has responded to the announcement of hypersonic weaponry newly deployed by the Russian Federation: We need more money.

“This is the challenge of our time, to build a South Africa in which all people have a decent standard of living, access to economic opportunities and opportunity to pursue their dreams.” – Malusi Gigaba Budget Speech February 2018
Minister of Finance Knowledge Malusi Nkanyezi Gigaba says South Africa must confront and overcome a number of challenges if it is to sustain growth [GCIS]

Judge Napolitano says that US debt at the end of President Trump's first term will be $27-TRILLION, because his newly passed budget adds $6-trillion in debt per year, or one-million dollars per minute, above what is collected in taxes. The debt is so high, and the government borrows so much, that 40% of all its present revenue goes to pay for interest on debt for goods and services already consumed. Future generations will be paying for goods and services that were consumed before they were ever born!

Despite an organized and active grassroots movement, Honduran politics have been repeatedly steamrolled by the self-interests of international ruling elites, as journalist and filmmaker Jesse Freeston explained to Dennis J. Bernstein. By Dennis J Bernstein For weeks following its stolen…Read more →

The Office of Personnel Management is responsible for hiding information about the salaries of 20% of all federal workers. The data is redacted from public records, so taxpayers cannot find out how much is being paid to high-level bureaucrats. The total is a whopping $20-billion each year. President Trump has the power to put this to an end in a heartbeat by replacing the Director of The Office of Personnel Management, Kathleen McGettigan, a 25-year bureaucrat whose salary is not shown. There is no indication so far that Trump has any interest in changing the status quo.