Federal Budget

UPDATE: The Clock Still Ticks For Earmarks

Earlier this month, Rep. David Obey, the Democratic chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, sent his Republican colleagues a letter that forced a ...  Read more

Business Groups Protest Iraq Bill

The groups want Congress to consider a minimum-wage increase and tax cuts as separate legislation.  Read more

Veto Delays Community-Bank Relief

May 4, 2007 -- The Iraq war spending bill vetoed this week by President Bush contained a tax-relief measure for small community banks aim...  Read more

Greenspan Warns Deficit Could Spark Rate Soar

April 21, 2005 -- Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned on Thursday that if America's budget deficit is not addressed interest r...  Read more

Sign Of The Times

Government agency fires head of DARPA because of a risky investment deal.  Read more

What The Nsf Thinks Of Its Own Rd Program

The only agency in the federal government required by law to include small businesses specifically in its R&D funding wishes it didn't have to. ...  Read more

Deficit Spending Steals Money From Small Companies

When the government competes with business for credit, guess who wins.  Read more

What The NSF Thinks Of Its Own R&D Program

The only agency in the federal government required by law to include small businesses specifically in its R&D funding wishes it didn't have to. To t...  Read more

Budget Surplus

When a governmental entity has revenues from taxes, fees, and other impositions which exceed its budgeted outlays, it is said to have a budget surplus. Wh...  Read more

Congress to Vote on Revised Omnibus Bill

Nov. 30, 2004 --Congress last week approved a temporary spending bill until legislators can revise the omnibus package they approved earli...  Read more

Employees Favor Minimum-Wage Hike

Most workers that are paid an hourly wage support a proposed increase in the federal minimum wage, even if it results in higher consumer prices and job cu...  Read more

Social Security Reform

Pete du Pont's column today about Social Security reform on WSJ.com's Read more

New Start for Women's Procurement Program

Recent legislation stops controversial Bush-era rules.  Read more

Bush's Iraq Veto Puts Minimum-Wage Increase, Tax Cuts on Hold

Both measures, expected to impact small businesses, were attached to a bill that set dates for troop withdrawal.  Read more

Stop Taxing Capital Gains

The last time the capital gains tax was reduced, innovation revived. Now let's get rid of the tax completely.  Read more

How to Find Small-Business Grants

Bye bye recession . The nightmare is over . Maybe. The Wall Street Journal (alo...  Read more

Going For Broke

American weapons, not Russian, will be the death of us yet, and part of the reason is the unblinking support of the business community  Read more

This Sector Is Secured

Report from Virginia.  Read more

Intelligent Computers

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), a division of the U.S. Defense Department, Read more

Book Money

Tips for finding state-provided grant money to improve employees' skills  Read more

Despite House Vote, More Delays Expected on Minimum Wage and Tax Cuts

Both measures are included in the latest Iraq spending bill, which President Bush says he will veto again.  Read more

Motion Without Movement

A diary of official Washington in the midst of an economic crisis  Read more

AARP Survey Reveals Support for Social Security

August 12, 2005 --The recent debate over the role of private investment in Social Security reform has strengthened public confidence in th...  Read more

The effect of federal budget cuts on small business is becoming clearer. The Small Business Administration fat-trimming includes a 25% cut in direct and g...  Read more

Senate Delays Estate Tax Vote

September 8, 2005 --The U.S. Senate will delay voting on the future of the estate tax in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Senate Majority Le...  Read more

Economy Sputters in Fourth Quarter

Jan. 27, 2006 --The U.S. economy slowed considerably at the end of 2005, dropping to its weakest pace in three years, the Commerce Departm...  Read more

Read Our Lips

A surprising number of CEOs favor tax increases for fighting the federal budget deficit.  Read more

Arkansas Program To Target Uninsured Workers

The new Arkansas Safety Net Benefit Program seeks to help small-business employees without health coverage.  Read more

The Rise and Fall of Thinking Machines

A close up look at a doomed-yet-brilliant start-up computer company that never quite grasped the basics of business.  Read more

Deficit Soars; Candidates Fiddle

The White House announced today that -- whoops! -- its economic brain trust had misunderestimated the federal deficit. In 2009, it's likely to soar, or sk...  Read more

How Software Companies Get Stimulated

President Obama is pushing billions of dollars of stimulus money into the economy and software company CEOs (like me) are more than just a little in...  Read more

Lawmakers Assail SBA's Proposed Budget

Democrats contend that President Bush is shortchanging the Small Business Administration.  Read more

The SBA's 2008 Budget, Half Full

A couple weeks ago it looked, to the untrained eye, like Congress was heading toward an appropriation for the Small Business Administration, one that plac...  Read more

Business Cycles

The business cycle is the periodic but irregular up-and-down movement in economic activity, measured by fluctuations in real gross domestic product (GDP) ...  Read more

Democrats Charge Bush Short-Changing SBA, Others

Feb. 21, 2005 -- Democrats are making small business a point of contention in their battle against the Republican White House. In ...  Read more