Feature Channels: Budgets and Funding

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Today, with threats of serious budget cuts looming, a new report demonstrates the effectiveness of the Medicaid program in addressing the health and financial needs of children and other vulnerable populations. The synthesis, entitled "Medicaid Works: A Review of How Public Insurance Protects the Health and Finances of Children and Other Vulnerable Populations" examines the program that, since its inception in 1965, has been serving as a lifeline to millions of our nation’s most seriously ill and impoverished citizens.

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Despite efforts to freeze non-security discretionary spending, the budgets of federal regulatory agencies are increasing in both 2011 and 2012.

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In an op-ed in today's Washington Post, Gordon Adams, a professor at American University’s School of International Service, calls for more Pentagon budget cuts. Adams is a former associate director for national security and international affairs at the Office of Management and Budget.

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More American families are turning to federal assistance to heat their homes during the winter, with many more families eligible for but not taking advantage of the program, according to new research from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.

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When support for school libraries rises reading scores rise too. That's what researchers at Mansfield University in PA found when they examined studies done in 22 states and one Canadian province.

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Odette Lienau, an expert on international economic relations and an assistant professor of Law at Cornell University, comments on the recent announcement that Standard & Poor’s will revise the United States credit rating from “stable” to “negative.”

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Sean Nicholson, professor of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University, Research Director of the Upstate Health Research Network, and Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, explains the House GOP plan to reduce federal spending by overhauling Medicare.

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Christine Ries, professor of economics at Georgia Tech's Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, offers her views on why Representative Paul Ryan’s budget plan is moving the debate in the right direction.

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Dr. Arterton has been actively involved in politics at the national level and is an expert in political institutions and political leadership. He oversees the GW Battleground Poll. He has served as a polling consultant for "Newsweek" and a consultant on public opinion surveys for the Gallup Organization.

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Three high-profile panelists will share their views on how science, the media, politics and society interact and, perhaps more importantly, what scientists themselves can do to communicate more effectively and restore their credibility.

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A government shutdown is looming and many politicians who are claiming “we’re broke” are proposing short-term or long-term federal budget plans with steep budget cuts as the only option to reduce the deficit. “But it looks like budget deficits are being driven in part by a deliberate strategy to sustain them, so policymakers are forced to cut spending,” says Timothy McBride, PhD, economist and associate dean for public health at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. “The evidence certainly supports the theory that the Republicans are using a strategy of ‘starving the beast,’” he says.

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Last November, Missouri voters approved Proposition B, which amended state law to more strictly regulate large-scale dog breeders. Now, just four months later, Prop B is set to be repealed if the Missouri House of Representatives and Gov. Jay Nixon follow the state senate’s lead. Can this happen in every state? Only if the voters allow it, says Gregory Magarian, JD, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis and an expert on constitutional law.

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Giving up one luxury to afford something else still works, says Texas Tech expert.

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Michigan's state universities face a 15 percent cut in state funding--oh, wait, make that a 22 percent cut--as politicians play with numbers.

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Todd DeMitchell, professor and chair of the Department of Education and the Lamberton Professor in the Justice Studies Program at the University of New Hampshire, is available to discuss public unions, collective bargaining, and trends in organizing public-sector workers.

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Mildred Warner, Cornell professor in city and regional planning, is an expert on privatizing government services. Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, recently suggested privatizing certain government services. Warner comments on Gov. Walker’s proposals.

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Public support of labor unions has reached its lowest level in a quarter century. According to a February 2011 Pew Research Poll Center poll, only 45 percent of respondents expressed positive views of unions. In his studies of major speeches of the American labor movement, Casey Kelly, Ph.D., a communication instructor for Butler University, has found some key historic messages that unions might use to regain support.

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In its 27th survey of American spending priorities since 1973 conducted as part of its General Social Survey (GSS), NORC at the University of Chicago Wednesday released a report on its most recent findings. By a notable margin, education is the top priority.

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By applying the Stock/Watson methodology, Bryant U. professor develops a Current Economic Indicator and a Leading Indicator for Rhode Island.

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The public is on a different page with regard to the federal budget than either the House of Representatives or the Obama Administration, bringing a different set of priorities and a greater willingness to increase some domestic spending and taxes, concludes a new analysis by the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation (PPC).

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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s move to strip or significantly narrow his state’s public-sector workers’ collective bargaining rights has significant implications for all unionized workers, both in the public and private sector, says Marion Crain, JD, the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law and director of the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Work & Social Capital.

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With many Americans concerned about rising gas prices, state budgets and inflation — and with battle lines drawn in several states between governments and unions — the U.S. can expect more social media “wars’ in the near future.

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In letters to the U.S. House and Senate, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine expressed strong concerns about the effect of proposed funding cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that will devastate the supply of new physicians trained to treat injured/ill workers.