DailyKos: 30% of registered voters think the country is headed in the right direction and 64%  think it is headed in the wrong direction.

According to the Economist, 27% of adults think the economy is getting better; 29% say it is getting worse; and 37% say it is staying the same.

BA

Designed to act as a broad overview of spending for the fiscal year 2013, a budget passed this year will set the tone for spending and what actions will be taken later on to fix our fiscal crisis. In today’s proposed budget, Congressman Ryan attempts to point out real problems in the skyrocketing costs of healthcare and reform a complicated tax code that ensnares more and more middle class Americans every year. The budget proposal would reduce the number of income tax brackets from six to two and reduce the rates to 25% and 10%, proposed cutting the corporate tax rate and doing away with the alternative minimum tax all together.

With no plans to debate a budget anytime soon, the Senate is poised to quickly dismiss the House plan and continue to spending without any budget. By not passing a budget this year, Congress will have operated without a budget resolution since the Senate passed one in April of 2009.

Congress has a fundamental flaw when it comes to spending and the lack of real budgets to outline where your tax dollars will go is at the heart of that problem. While today’s proposed budget is a step in the right direction, it is not a complete solution. Without real reforms to spending, and a Senate that will at least consider them, lawmakers continue to push the country further into debt and closer to the fiscal cliff.BA

According to Rasmussen, 52% of likely voters worry the federal government will do too much in reacting to the nation’s current economic problems. 36% are more concerned that the government will not do enough.

According to ABC/Washington Post, 49% of adults feel optimistic about the economy while 48% feel pessimistic.

According to Fox, only 12% of registered voters are happy gas prices are improving because it will force the U.S. to use alternative sources of energy. 73% are unhappy because it means Americans will suffer financially.

According to Rasmussen, 58% of adults support an across-the-board income tax percentage. 31% oppose a system where everyone pays the same percentage in taxes. 11% are undecided.

BA

But the real question is being missed. You see, CBO scores everything over ten years.  And since many parts of the health care reform doesn’t take effect until 2014, it makes the numbers look better since it’s scored over ten years.  While most Americans assume that the CBO reports the full price of each bill in their reports, this isn’t the case.

The CBO uses a standard set down by Congress to score bills costs over a decade and no more. When the healthcare law was originally considered, the CBO scored the bill over ten years, but many provisions don’t go into effect until years later. Today, the CBO report includes a new timeline, where many of the provisions are closer to taking effect, so as aresult the numbers have changed.

To give you a clear example, imagine a bill that does not take affect until 11 years from today. Imagine this bill will cost the American taxpayers an infinite amount of money. Got it?   Well, get this.  The CBO would score this bill as spending nothing since the spending occurs outside of the 10-year window. It is because the CBO does not use longer than 10 year forecasting that numbers are constantly changing on bills and laws that permanently affect spending in Washington and at home.

Both parties have become experts over the years at gaming the system.  Look, it’s hard to know how much a massive piece of legislation will cost.  But when politicians are drafting a bill, and determined to keep cost down, that should be upfront about it and not use accounting tricks.BA

2. A Culture of Spending and Debate by Michael O’Shea

1. Did you get your Money’s Worth from Congress Last Week?BA

• The Financial Times says companies are scrambling to sell off “dollar-denominated debt.”

• Reuters looks at AIG’s efforts to find money to pay back taxpayers for the bailout the company received.

• CNBC says businesses are wary of a flat tax.

• Bloomberg takes a look at how wealthy “multinational” families are trying to reduce their tax burdens.

• The Wall Street Journal reports that some companies are asking Congress to reduce the amount they have to contribute to their pension programs.

BA

The House and Senate were not in session last week. They are back this week, but before they begin, take a look below for a summary of the bills each chamber has passed so far this year that will cut spending. In addition to the legislation below, the House has passed a line item veto bill (see our fact sheet here).

What you paid

Last week taxpayers spent roughly $100 million on Congress.

Salaries of Members of Congress and their allowances/week:

Speaker of the House: $223,500/52 = $4,299

House and Senate Majority and Minority Leaders: ($193,400/52) x 4 = $14,877

Other Representatives and Senators: ($174,000/52) x 530 = $1,773,462

Average weekly budget for all House offices: ($1,446,009/52) x 435 = $2,096,421

Average weekly budget for all Senate offices: ($3,409,093/52) x 100 = $6,555,958

Non-salary money allocated for Congress: $4.656 billion/52 = $89,538,462

What you got

So far this year, the House voted to approve two bills that would cut spending:

• H.R. 3835, To extend the pay limitation for Members of Congress and Federal employees. SAVINGS: Unknown
• H.R. 1173, Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act. SAVINGS: $9 million over five years

The Senate has not passed any legislation to cut spending.

BA

In addition to the release of the President’s 2013 budget (see CNN Money, Bloomberg, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, andThe Washington Post for coverage), The big news on Capitol Hill last week was the passage Friday of a plan to extend the 2011 payroll tax cut for all of 2012 and to make changes to federal unemployment programs. Specifically, according to The Wall Street Journal, the bill expands a “work-sharing” program  “that uses unemployment-insurance funds to supplement the paychecks of employees whose hours have been reduced as part of a company’s cost-cutting.” The legislation would also cap unemployment benefits for some recipients at 73 weeks instead of 99. The Journal also says the bill will cost $150 billion through lost revenue and the changes to jobless benefits.

Check below for more of last week’s House and Senate action.

What you paid

Last week taxpayers spent roughly $100 million on Congress.

Salaries of Members of Congress and their allowances/week:

Speaker of the House: $223,500/52 = $4,299

House and Senate Majority and Minority Leaders: ($193,400/52) x 4 = $14,877

Other Representatives and Senators: ($174,000/52) x 530 = $1,773,462

Average weekly budget for all House offices: ($1,446,009/52) x 435 = $2,096,421

Average weekly budget for all Senate offices: ($3,409,093/52) x 100 = $6,555,958

Non-salary money allocated for Congress: $4.656 billion/52 = $89,538,462

What you got

In addition to the payroll tax cut package noted above, the House voted to approve three bills and resolutions that would cost taxpayers $91 million over five years:

H.R. 3408, Protecting Investment in Oil Shale the Next Generation of Environmental, Energy, and Resource Security Act. COST: “Insignificant”

H.R. 3248, To designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 112 South 5th Street in Saint Charles, MO as the Lance Corporal Drew W. Weaver Post Office Building,. COST: $0

H.R. 3247, To designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 1100 Town and Country Commons in Chesterfield, MO as the Lance Corporal Matthew P. Pathenos Post Office Building. COST: $0

H.R. 2079, To designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 10 Main Street in East Rockaway, NY, as the John J. Cook Post Office. COST: $0

In addition to the payroll tax cut package noted above, the Senate confirmed Jesse M. Furman of New York to be U.S. District Court judge and Jose Jordan to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit.

BA

Politico says 2012 will be a “do nothing year” for Congress.

Members of Congress are putting the “finishing touches” on a deal to extend the 2011 payroll tax cut and extend unemployment benefits. Votes are expected Friday. Fox News, The Hill, Los Angeles Times, Politico, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have the details.

Roll Call says some lawmakers are trying to the stop cuts to federal worker pensions that is currently in the payroll tax extension package.

Bloomberg and The New York Times report there is still some chance that Greece will default on its debt.

On the opinion pages: Debra Saunders says the President is not doing enough to rein in the federal budget deficit; The Wall Street Journalexplores the cost of extending unemployment benefits; and Michael Peterson argues lawmakers should use a longer time horizon than 10 years when presenting the nation’s budget outlook.

BA

Skirting the Earmark Ban

Let’s Take Another Look at the Line Item VetoBA