The Wall Street Journal reports U.S. officials are warning European lawmakers to get a handle on their countries’ debt problems. Meanwhile, according to Reuters, the World Bank president thinks the world economy is in a “danger zone.”

The Wall Street Journal previews President Obama’s upcoming deficit reduction plan, noting it is not expected to make changes to Social Security.

Politico reports lawmakers are preparing a continuing resolution to continue funding the government past the end of the fiscal year (Oct. 1) as it doesn’t appear lawmakers will pass all the necessary appropriations bills by then.

The Hill and The Wall Street Journal say the House passed a non-binding resolution disapproving of the recent $500 billion debt ceiling increase even though the increase will go forward.

According to National Journal, President Obama’s new jobs bill may not come up for a vote in the Senate until October. The New York Times says some Democrats don’t support the plan.

The Washington Post examines how many jobs President Obama’s green jobs initiative has created. (Bloomberg and The New York Times look more at controversy surrounding a loan guarantee to a solar energy firm.)

Politico reports House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) will make remarks today on tax reform.

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Some other highlights from today’s report:

The number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, at 8.2 million, was little changed in March but has fallen by 1.3 million since November 2010.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was 6.1 million in March; their share of the unemployed increased from 43.9 to 45.5 percent over the month.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in March, at 8.4 million.  These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

In March, 2.4 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, up slightly from a year earlier. These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

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Below are excerpts. Click here to read in its entirety.

Repeated battles over the 2011 budget are taking attention from a more dire problem—the long-run budget deficit.

Divided government is no excuse for inaction. The bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, under co-chairmen Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, issued a report on the problem in December supported by 11 Democrats and Republicans — a clear majority of the panel’s 18 members.

As former chairmen and chairwomen of the Council of Economic Advisers, who have served in Republican and Democratic administrations, we urge that the Bowles-Simpson report, “The Moment of Truth,” be the starting point of an active legislative process that involves intense negotiations between both parties.

There are many issues on which we don’t agree. Yet we find ourselves in remarkable unanimity about the long-run federal budget deficit: It is a severe threat that calls for serious and prompt attention.

While the actual deficit is likely to shrink over the next few years as the economy continues to recover, the aging of the baby-boom generation and rapidly rising health care costs are likely to create a large and growing gap between spending and revenues. These deficits will take a toll on private investment and economic growth. At some point, bond markets are likely to turn on the United States — leading to a crisis that could dwarf 2008.

“The Moment of Truth” documents that “the problem is real, and the solution will be painful.” It is tempting to act as if the long-run budget imbalance could be fixed by just cutting wasteful government spending or raising taxes on the wealthy. But the facts belie such easy answers.

We know the measures to deal with the long-run deficit are politically difficult. The only way to accomplish them is for members of both parties to accept the political risks together. That is what the Republicans and Democrats on the commission who voted for the bipartisan proposal did.

We urge Congress and the president to do the same.

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Friday Funnies: 5 jokes about the economy

Consequences of government spending

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Public Notice has posted a series of billboards at Union Station Metro stop in Washington, D.C. The ads remind returning Members of Congress why the voters sent them to the nation’s capital to begin with: to cut government spending.

The stakes have never been higher. As Congress considers matters relevant to the long-term health of the economy, we’ll continue to work with the public to hold elected officials accountable.

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“President Obama met with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in Silicon Valley yesterday. Zuckerberg said he could create new jobs. The bad news? They’re all in Farmville.” - Conan O’Brien

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“I’m glad we have a day for the presidents, but shouldn’t we have a day for Congress when the Senate and the House can kick back and not worry about getting anything done? Oh, wait.” – Craig Ferguson

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Cartoon: Ignoring the real problem

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“Republicans now are threatening to shut down the government. Hey, we’ve got trillions of dollars in debt, we run massive deficits every year, we’re not even close to balancing the budget. Shut it down? I say let’s burn it down for the insurance money.” – Jay Leno

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“They say President Lincoln once walked three miles to pay back a penny. That makes him the last president to do anything about the debt.” - David Letterman

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“Arkansas Congressman Steve Womack has proposed cutting funding for President Obama’s teleprompter. Oh man, when Obama finds out he’s going to be speechless.” - Jimmy Fallon

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The Onion: U.S. Renews Contract With Spotted Ground Squirrels Through 2015

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“President Obama was in San Francisco today, meeting with a group of technology executives, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Their goal is to figure out how to create new jobs, to replace jobs that have been lost as a result of everyone spending all their time at work on Facebook.” - Jimmy Kimmel

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“President Obama delivered his 2012 budget to Congress yesterday, but it probably won’t get much action, since they still haven’t yet passed a budget for 2011. But to be fair, they have been busy posting shirtless photos of themselves on Craigslist.” - Jimmy Kimmel

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Each coaster and poster has a number (24747) to which you can text “CUT” to receive instant spending alerts (if you haven’t already signed up, now’s the time!).

Be sure to check out Politico’s spotlight on our campaign, “Coasters with a political message,” and listen to G. Gordon Liddy talk about the coasters and the reminder to Congress.

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So what has happened in the past year?

On February 1^st 2010, the President introduced his budget for fiscal year 2011. It came in at a staggering $3.8 trillion. But at least he came up with one. As the year progressed, Congress’ inability to make necessary spending cuts – or even to agree on a spending level — resulted in the failure to pass a budget, one of its most basic responsibilities.

Here are a few more fiscal low-lights from the past year:

For February 2010, the U.S. posted a $220.9 billion deficit. The most recent monthly Treasury Department statement showed a $79.9 billion deficit. A significant decrease, but that’s of little solace when one considers the U.S. government has run a deficit for 27 straight months.

In February 2010, the unemployment rate stood at 9.7%. According to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate stands at 9.4%. Again, a promising drop, but tempered by the fact that the rate dropped from 9.8% the previous month and still remains far too high.

And, most important, the government continues to spend at unsustainable levels. With the government expected to spend $3.7 trillion in FY2011, the Congressional Budget Office recently announced they expect this year’s deficit to climb to nearly $1.5 trillion – the highest ever.

In November, voters made clear that, regardless of party affiliation, they were going to hold lawmakers accountable to their commitment to cut spending and get the country back on a sound fiscal foundation.

As the President prepares to release his budget proposal, and Congress begins to craft the federal budget for fiscal year 2012, consider what to do about spending levels for the current fiscal year (as the continuing resolution for fiscal year 2011 soon expires), and debate the debt ceiling increase — it’s more important than ever to remain vigilant.

As we’ve tried to do over the past year, we’ll continue to work to provide just-the-facts resources to keep you updated on the most important fiscal and economic issues our nation faces today, and in the future.

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