Blogs
I'm a big CNBC fan. I've been interviewed countless times since the network was formed, know many of the reporters and producers well, and most important, watch it religiously all day long when the markets are open.
But I've never understood why CNBC and virtually everyone else in the financial media continues to think it's important when the Dow Jones Industrials average exceeds its previous record high by a few points or why GOP-leaning analysts say that it's significant.
Wonder no more: the defense budget will be increasing in the years ahead.
The Washington Post has published two articles in the past two days that point the way. On Thursday, Ann Scott Tyson reported that the military was having to pay bonuses to keep mid-level officers. The amount -- $25,000 to $35,000 -- wasn't much by Wall Street standards. But it is one of the best indications yet that personnel costs for the Pentagon will be increasing justso the Pentagon can keep the force it already has.
For someone who was once the chief economist at OMB under Dave Stockman, Larry Kudlow should know better.
His post from earlier this week on nationalreviewonline talks about federal spending perpetuates the myth that it can be cut without consequences. The whole post is here, but the two relevant paragraphs are:
OMB Watch has a small article about how the House yesterday passed legislation that would eliminate the current program where IRS contracts out tax collecting to a private contractor. OMB Watch also notes that the Bush administration is threatening to veto the bill.
