Inside these posts: Federal budget

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U.S. on pace to hit debt ceiling May 16

Treasury Secretary Geithner tells Congress that the U.S. will reach its legal debt limit by May 16 and urges lawmakers to act soon.

The Treasury Department’s arsenal of emergency measures may provide extra borrowing room to last only until about July 8, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said today. Get the full story »

House GOP seeks to skirt Senate on budget cuts

Stuck in a budget quagmire with Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama, House Republicans are suggesting they can run the government without them. Get the full story »

U.S. budget plan includes increase for FHA

The White House budget proposal to be unveiled next week includes an increase in borrowing costs for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, industry sources said Tuesday.

The move is part of a broader revamp of the U.S. housing finance system to reduce the role of the government in the mortgage market, including a gradual wind-down of government-controlled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

U.S. to hit debt limit in March or April

As Republican lawmakers threaten a showdown over the federal debt limit, bond investors are calculating when they should start to get nervous. The answer: early March, and probably, really worried in April.

Wall Street economists, looking at recent seasonal spending and revenue trends, estimate the $14.3 trillion debt limit will be reached toward the end of March or sometime in April if Congress fails to raise it before then. Get the full story »

Debt commission to change draft to broaden support

The chairmen of the White House’s debt-reduction commission are making last-minute changes to their provocative early draft in an effort to broaden support before a crucial Wednesday vote, people familiar with the matter said.

The co-chairmen, Democrat Erskine Bowles and former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, need 14 of the 18 members to support their proposal in order to issue a formal recommendation, which could then be voted on by Congress before the end of the year. Get the full story »

Deficit panel: Tough report won’t be softened

Deficit reduction commission co-chairman Erskine Bowles says he won’t “do a whitewash” on the call for austerity measures merely to get a bipartisan consensus among panelists.

Former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson released recommendations last week calling for steep cuts in Medicare, lifting the Social Security retirement age and increasing taxes, including a 15 percent hike in federal gasoline tax. Get the full story »

Obama opposes permanent tax cuts for rich

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday he does not want to permanently extend tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, sending another signal he is willing to forge some sort of compromise with newly emboldened Republicans to win an extension for the middle class.

The White House has been hinting it may be willing to come to some kind of deal on the cuts, which Republicans, heartened by their election successes this month, want to extend for the rich as well as the middle class. Get the full story »