Menu
Idea

federal budget

60
Filter by:

Filter by published date

From left to right portraits of Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Donald Trump.
partner

The 40-Year Path that Left the GOP Unable to Balance the Budget

First, the GOP became the party of tax cuts and now it won't touch entitlements — which makes a balanced budget nearly impossible.
by Monica Prasad via Made By History on April 26, 2023

Joe Biden Tried to Cut Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare for 40 Years

Joe Biden was once a New Deal Democrat. Then he “evolved” and starting backing decades of Republican plans to cut Medicare and Social Security.
by Branko Marcetic via Jacobin on January 29, 2020

The History of Health Care Spending in 7 Graphs

Health care spending grew more slowly in the past two years than it has in over five decades.
via Washington Post on January 9, 2012

The Education of David Stockman

"None of us really understands what's going on with all these numbers."
by William Greider via The Atlantic on December 15, 1981
Johnson delivers the State of the Union address in 1965.

Lyndon B. Johnson's 1968 State of the Union Address

An unpopular Lyndon B. Johnson sought unity amid turmoil in his 1968 address to Congress.
by Lyndon Baines Johnson via The American Presidency Project on January 17, 1968
partner

Who Controls the Purse? Presidential Power and the Fight Over Spending

Trump is reviving a controversial budget tactic, putting a Nixon-era fight over presidential power and congressional authority back in the headlines.
by Sarah Weiser via Retro Report on May 23, 2025
Hakeem Jeffries with a sign that reads "Hands off Medicaid and SNAP"
partner

The Historic Dangers of Slashing Medicaid Funding

Medicaid has always been fiercely contested political terrain, and past cuts have had disastrous human costs.
by Ben Zdencanovic via Made By History on May 6, 2025
Elon Musk, David Stockman, and a federal building.

The Education of Elon Musk

The Reagan administration offers a cautionary tale about cost-cutting zeal crashing up against the reality of how government works.
by David A. Graham via The Atlantic on March 20, 2025
Thaddeus Stevens
partner

Thaddeus Stevens and the Power of the Purse

The Radical Republican oversaw federal spending at the dawn of Reconstruction. How did his support for Black equality affect his leadership in the House?
by Cecily Nelson Zander via HNN on February 25, 2025
NASA's administrator shows a model of the space shuttle to President Jimmy Carter.

What Spaceflight Owes to Jimmy Carter: The President's Little-Known NASA Legacy

Jimmy Carter, skeptical of NASA's shuttle, saved it with funding despite delays and opposition. His Voyager message carries hope deep into space.
by Denise Chow via NBC News on December 30, 2024
Shipping container labeled "China Shipping," overlaid on political cartoon showing a tariff slowing supply of medicine to a drip.

Trump Loves The 1890s But He’s Clueless About Them

The tariffs he keeps babbling about didn’t make that decade great. They helped usher in a depression.
by Eric Rauchway via The Bulwark on October 23, 2024
Capital Hill at night.
partner

Government Shutdowns Were Never Necessary Anyway

Government shutdowns only became possible in 1980, when the Attorney General offered a new interpretation of an 1870 law.
by M. A. Davis via Made By History on November 16, 2023
House Speaker Thomas O'Neill Jr. talking to President Ronald Reagan

Which President Had The Most Shutdowns? Reagan, With An Asterisk

There were more government shutdowns under Ronald Reagan than under every president since, combined. But some were as short as a few hours.
by Gillian Brockell via Washington Post on September 23, 2023
Signs at bus stops in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, telling residents about the availability of the SNAP program.
partner

SNAP Work Requirements Are a Triumph of Politics Over Evidence

Decades of evidence reveals that work requirements for food assistance leave people hungry and hurt the economy. But supporting them remains good politics.
by Lindsay Drane Amaral via Made By History on June 6, 2023
Drawing of a fighter plane.

The Real Developmental Engine

Throughout its history, the technology sector has been dependent on the federal budget.
by Jeannette Estruth via The Drift on February 22, 2023
Black-and-white photograph of President Dwight Eisenhower smiling at camera from his desk

The Effective Conservative Governance of Ike Eisenhower

The conservative successes of the Eisenhower administration have been too quickly forgotten.
by Geoffrey Kabaservice via The American Conservative on October 15, 2022
American politicians with supporters and German citizens in the background

1989-2001: America’s Long Lost Weekend

From the fall of the Berlin Wall to 9/11, we had relative peace and prosperity. We squandered it completely.
by Walter Shapiro via The New Republic on June 27, 2022
The U.S. national debt clock.

Clearing the Air on the Debt Limit

This report clarifies five issues commonly raised in debt limit debates and explores some open questions.
by D. Andrew Austin, Sean M. Stiff via Congressional Research Service on November 10, 2021
Graduation cap on pile of money
partner

Policymakers Created the Student Loan Industry — and The Debt Crisis

While they never intended for more than 45 million Americans to have this much debt, policymakers in the 1960s made fateful choices.
by Elizabeth Tandy Shermer via Made By History on August 5, 2021
Book cover of "When Good Government Meant Big Government," with text and red and blue stripes in the style of campaign signs.

When Good Government Meant Big Government

An interview with Jesse Tarbert about the history of the American state, “big government,” and the legacy of government reform efforts.
by Jesse Tarbert via Law & History Review on June 16, 2021
Silhouette of a soldier sitting on aircraft

The Long Roots of Endless War

A new history shows how the glut of US military bases abroad has led to a constant state of military conflict.
by Daniel Immerwahr via The Nation on November 30, 2020

Joe Biden Pushed Ronald Reagan to Ramp Up Incarceration – Not the Other Way Around

Biden convinced small-government Republicans to increase spending in the War on Crime.
by David Stein via The Intercept on September 17, 2019

Banking on the Cold War

The Cold War says more about how U.S. elites imagined their “freedom” than it does about enabling other people to be free.
by Nikhil Pal Singh via Boston Review on March 14, 2019

The Origins of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance

It has long been an important element of U.S. international affairs.
by Julia F. Irwin via The American Historian on February 1, 2019

How the IRS Was Gutted

An eight-year campaign to slash the agency’s budget has left it understaffed and hamstrung. That's good news for corporations and the wealthy.
by Paul Kiel, Jesse Eisinger via ProPublica on December 11, 2018
original

Infrastructure is Good for Business

During the Depression, business leaders knew that public works funding was key to economic growth. Why have we forgotten that lesson?
by Brent Cebul on March 12, 2018
original

The Supply-Side Swindle

For decades, the GOP has used tax cuts to achieve its political goals. So why do Dems keep treating "supply-side" as an economic strategy?
by Brent Cebul on November 17, 2017
original

When Science Was Big

This year's Nobel Prize in physics is a blast from the past of Cold War-era research investment. Is that era gone for good?
by David Singerman on October 19, 2017

The Democrats Are Eisenhower Republicans

For decades, Democrats have positioned themselves as fiscally responsible while Republicans happily hand tax cuts to the rich.
by Josh Mound via Jacobin on July 3, 2017
George Washington Plunkitt

The Case for Corruption

Why Washington needs more honest graft.
by Jonathan Rauch via The Atlantic on March 1, 2014
View More
30 of
60

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person

brought to you by
© Bunk History