Tagged: Federal Budget

As people trickled in and out of the U.S. Post Office in Squirrel Hill to mail in their taxes Monday, a small group of protesters stood outside to speak out against how the federal government spends tax dollars.

In particular, they said too much is spent on the military.

“We feel that by reducing the military budget, we could afford to put more money into healthcare, housing, mass transit, infrastructure, all those things,” said Eva Havlicsek, a member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).

Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Bob Casey discusses the 3.7 trillion dollar budget passed by the Senate in the wee hours of the morning Saturday. It's the first budget the senate has passed in four years. We also discuss proposed changes to the electoral voting process.

The deadline for federal budget cuts, known as the sequester, has come and gone. So what's next? NPR Senior Business Editor Marilyn Geewax joins us to discuss the impact of the sequestration.

Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Bob Casey has a plan for heading off the sequester and 85 billion dollars in federal cuts scheduled to go into effect Friday at midnight.  Jay Sukits, Clinical Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the University of Pittsburgh addresses Senator Casey's plan and the sequester threat from an economist's point of view.

Despite a rapidly approaching deadline, Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) is still hopeful Congress can reach an agreement before Friday to prevent the implementation of the automatic federal budget cuts, known as the sequester.

“I think you have to work up to the last minute,” said Senator Casey, “And we’ve seen a lot can happen sometimes in the last day or couple of hours.” The Senator’s proposed plan combines new revenue sources as well as spending cuts to save $110 billion.

By the end of the week, the nation's spending plan could take a $85 billion dip.  The cuts, which have been dubbed "the sequester," could harm sectors including education and small business, according to U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA-14)  He said that's one reason why he voted against the measure last year.

Education and defense would be among the biggest losers in Pennsylvania under automatic cuts to the federal budget set to take hold this week, according to a report that the White House issued Sunday as it seeks to avoid the impending economic fallout.

The White House compiled the numbers from federal agencies and its own budget office. The numbers reflect the impact of the cuts this year. Unless Congress acts by Friday, $85 billion in cuts are set to take effect from March to September.

Congress must enact legislation every year to provide funding for the operations of the federal government. Unfortunately, Congress is deeply divided over different philosophies about the role of the federal government. The infamous across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration are set to take effect March 1st. Could legislators be forced to finally come up with a compromise? U.S. Congressman Mike Doyle weighs in.