National Debt

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last week that seeks to end the practice of illegal immigrants getting child tax credit refunds. Attention was brought to the issue after an investigative report by a local television news station went viral on the Internet.

Illegal immigrants are fraudulently taking advantage of the federal income tax's child tax credit to the tune of $4.2 billion per year, reported Bob Segall of WTHR, an NBC affiliate in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 26. Since even those who do not pay takes can receive the credit, illegal immigrants have found that they are able to receive $1,000 per child from the federal government by filing taxes.

In some cases, though, the fraud goes even further. Segall found cases in which undocumented immigrants were taking the tax credit for nieces and nephews for whom they are not legal guardians and do not live in the United States. Some received more than $10,000 from the federal government. more >>

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released an analysis of the economic impact of President Barack Obama's 2013 budget proposal Friday. The report estimated that Obama's proposals would give the economy an initial boost, but that boost would come at the cost of decline in later years due to increased deficit spending.

For the first five years, 2013-2017, CBO estimated that the nation's economic growth would range between 0.2 percent lower to 1.4 percent higher than under current law. In the second five years, economic output would decline by somewhere between 0.5 percent and 2.2 percent.

Under current law, tax cuts that were initially passed during the George W. Bush administration and extended in 2010 would expire at the end of 2012. Obama's budget would increase deficits by making the tax cuts for all but the highest bracket permanent. more >>

House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan recently commented that the House Republican Budget for the federal government reflected Catholic principles. While Catholics have been debating the veracity of that claim, the occasion has also provided an opportunity for evangelicals of different political persuasions to debate how they understand biblical principles and the federal budget.

The Christian Post previously interviewed two Catholics, the Rev. Robert Sirico and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), and one evangelical theologian, Ron Sider. For another perspective, CP interviewed two politically conservative evangelicals, Jordan Ballor, research fellow at the Acton Institute, and Josh Good, an affiliate of Christians for a Sustainable Economy (CASE).

Ballor and Good were both in agreement with Sider that the large national debt, now over $15.6 trillion, is immoral in the way it passes debt from one generation to the next. Sider deserves a lot of praise, Ballor said in the interview, for bringing attention to the severity of the debt crisis. more >>

House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said that the federal budget passed last month by House Republicans contains many principles consistent with his Catholic faith, in an interview on CBN.

"A person's faith is central to how they conduct themselves in public and in private. So to me, using my Catholic faith, we call it the social magisterium, which is, how do you apply the doctrine of your teaching into your everyday life as a lay person?" Ryan answered when asked how his faith informed the budget.

The interview was conducted April 3 and the full interview will be aired for the first time on CBN's "700 Club" Thursday night. more >>

The Affordable Care Act (2010), commonly known as "Obamacare," will add between $340 billion and $530 billion to federal government deficits over the next 10 years, according to Charles Blahous, a public trustee for the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.

When the ACA was signed into law, Democrats and President Obama claimed, based upon Congressional Budget Office estimates, that it would reduce the deficit by $132 billion over 10 years. This deficit reduction was one of the principle reasons provided by Obama that the nation needed the health care reform measure.

If Blahous' calculations are correct, the ACA could cost as much as $662 billion more than advertised. more >>

Former head of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Fred Goodwin has been stripped of his knighthood and described in tabloids as "Fred the Shred."

The banker lost his high honor Tuesday after steering RBS, one of Britain's largest banks, to near collapse with the disastrous decision to buy out a Dutch bank. The action has contributed to the global financial crisis of today.

The Cabinet Office said the knighthood had been "canceled and annulled" because Goodwin caused the honors system disrepute. more >>