When PAYGO (a budget rule that is meant to ensure new spending is paid for) passed recently, we cautioned that it was a weak tool for fighting fiscal irresponsibility. Congress can avoid following PAYGO anytime it wants.  In a blog post and OpEd, we said that one of PAYGO’s glaring limitations was politicians’ ability to [...]

President Obama recently signed legislation that would restore pay-as-you-go, or PAYGO, rules to the federal government’s budget process.  During his weekly address, he celebrated this move as a return to fiscal discipline, ignoring the fact that the legislation he signed also raised the debt limit by another $1.9 trillion.  Here’s how the President described PAYGO: [...]