Free Republic

...When the president released his Fiscal 2005 Budget in February calling for a disciplined budget, some politicians and pundits dismissed it as "dead on arrival." They warned that its spending limits could not be met or would require devastating reductions in key priorities. They were wrong. To the credit of key leaders, the Congress stayed within budget limits and met key priorities. While the appropriations bills are not perfect, they honor the goals President Bush set last February: overall discretionary spending in Fiscal 2005 will rise only 4%, the same as the average increase in American family income. The budget...

A Dichotomy in Two Colors by Christopher Westley [Posted November 19, 2004] Call it the mystery of the red and the blue. After the presidential election, many have noticed the irony of how some of the more conservative, culturally red states seem to receive more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes. Meanwhile, some of the more liberal, culturally blue states seem to receive less in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes. You’d think the supposedly anti-Washington reds should be blues and the supposedly pro-Washington blues should be reds. After all, the red states seem to...

...The end of the last fiscal year on September 30 brought good news on the deficit front. And there's a fighting chance that the current lame-duck Congress will actually exercise some restraint in its appropriations for 2005. The media Furies and partisans are all astir because Congress voted to raise the debt limit again this week, as if not lifting the borrowing cap and defaulting was a viable option for the U.S. But the real story emerging this week is that the White House finally seems serious about holding the line on its budgetary spending strictures -- and won't stand...

North Korea has voiced opposition to US arms control chief John Bolton representing the United States in planned six-country talks about its nuclear weapons program, citing his reported criticisms of leader Kim Jong Il. Mr Bolton "is not entitled to take part in view of either the importance of the talks aimed to decide on peace and stability in Northeast Asia or human dignity," a spokesman for the North's Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency. The spokesman cited Mr Bolton's reported remarks about Mr Kim during his recent visit to Japan and South...