CBO

Russia’s war against Ukraine is hitting Americans in the pocketbook and many overseas in the stomach.  Ukrainian grain exports have collapsed, and Western sanctions limit Russian oil and fertilizer exports.  All of this makes U.S. and European...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she’s not ready to give USMCA the ‘green light’ in the House.  Pelosi earlier said a deal with the White House to bring up USMCA in the House was “imminent.”   But, a year after NAFTA’s replacement was signed and months of negotiations with Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Pelosi said, “We live in a world of instant gratification. ‘You got an agreement, when’

The bipartisan Congressional Budget Office said last week the trade war will slow economic growth, adding more fears of a possible recession.  The CBO said tariffs, which reduce U.S. gross domestic product through higher prices, reduces consumer purchasing power.  Th...

The Congressional Budget Office says the House Agriculture Committee's farm bill draft would reduce nutrition spending by $9.2 billion, offset by a $7.7 billion increase in spending on federal administrative costs.   The CBO report on the legislation said changes to the Republican-supported bill that passed out of the House Agriculture Committee would reduce nutrition spending because some people

House Agriculture Committee Chair Mike Conaway this week expressed his desire to see mark up and a vote on the farm bill by the end of March in the House of Representatives.  Conaway said that timetable would leave plenty of time to work out differences with the Senate version of the bill and ensure new legislation is finalized before the farm bill expires at the end of September.  Conaway does no

USDA spending on farm programs is projected to increase $1 billion this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.  The CBO this week projected spending on farm programs to rise from $13 billion last year to $14 billion this year, and then to $19 billion in 2017 and 2018.  CB...