Congress must pass a spending measure by midnight Friday or more than a half-million federal employees will be furloughed. Negotiations continue between Republicans and Democrats to avoid a government shutdown. Among the issues tied to the spending measure are an extension of the federal payroll tax cut, renewing unemployment benefits, and forcing the Obama administration’s hand on the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada.
The following statement from Steve Stanek, a research fellow for budget and tax policy at The Heartland Institute – a free-market think tank – may be used for attribution. For more comments, refer to the contact information below. To book a Heartland guest on your program, please contact Tammy Nash at [email protected] and 312/377-4000. After regular business hours, contact Jim Lakely at [email protected] and 312/731-9364.
“We’ve been through these games many times before. Lawmakers are policy tinkerers. The goal of both major political parties is to buy votes today with promises that people tomorrow will have to pay for. Nothing of substance will change.”
Steve Stanek
Research Fellow, Budget and Tax Policy
The Heartland Institute
Managing Editor
Budget & Tax News
[email protected]
815/385-5602
The Heartland Institute is a 27-year-old national nonprofit organization with offices in Chicago, Illinois; Washington, DC; Austin, Texas; Tallahassee, Florida; and Columbus, Ohio. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our Web site or call 312/377-4000.
