The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "budget deficits" ...
-
Wake-up Call
Medicare and health cost derived from the baby-boomer generation are driving the U.S. governments debts. "According to Government Accountability Office projections, if the federal government stays the course and makes no major changes in programs or taxes, it will be able to do little more than pay interest on its debts in just 30 years."
Tags: budget; Medicare; Social Security; Iraq; federal deficit; tax; reforms;
-
City is near top of list of spenders
According to this investigation, the city of Detroit is one of the highest spending cities in the country, falling just behind large cities like New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Chicago. The city also ranks fourth among the largest 15 cities in number of employees per 1,000 residents. Despite a steady increase in city spending, tax revenues significantly decreased, leaving the city $200 million in debt.
Tags: budget deficits; city spending; tax revenues; unemployment rates; poverty rates
-
High Cost of City Hall
Excessive spending and lavish furnishings for San Jose's new city hall inspired this San Jose Mercury News investigation. City officials planned to equip the new building with 45 million dollars worth of furniture, plasma televisions, and the most costly technology. At the same time, the city was undergoing a series of budget deficits, layoffs, and service cuts to residents over the years. According to the questionnaire, "city officials privately consulted with Cisco about what technology it ought to deploy in the new building and then designed an $8 million computer-and-telephone network using only the company's equipment."
-
Behind the Budget
This series investigated Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and the state legislature to reveal that what they disclosed about the state budget was not always accurate. The series found that some revenue was misspent, the governor hired employees while threatening layoffs, and that legislators funneled money to friends and contributors.
Tags: state government; Illinois; budget; lesgislature; deficit
-
Budgets Revolve Around Football
For high schools, fall Fridays are dedicated to football. Grim examines how football "is the center of the athletic budget's universe," and attracts the majority of revenue for high school activities. Athletic directors face a $20,000 deficit at the beginning of each season. The story focuses on how the money is distributed and how the tight budget is dealt with.
Tags: high school sports; high school budget; Virginia high schools
-
Federal Overhaul
The Journal reports that "in thousands of ways -- some large, many small -- the government has changed. Like corporate America, federal agencies have been forced to become more cost-conscious and more efficient. And Americans are feeling the consequences."
Tags: budget cutbacks; government employees; budget deficit; politics; defense spending; IRS; tax increases; Clinton; domestic spending
-
Fiscal tricks for the fat years
Governing reports on "budget gimmickry" used by state governments to balance their budgets or to increase their expenditures. The story finds that the tricks do not end when the recession ends, but just take a different character. The report looks at why state revenues overall have exceeded projections in the middle of the 90s, and examines some states' practices of "lowballing," or consistently underestimating revenues.
Tags: economy; politics; recession; revenues; economic forecasts; Virginia; South Carolina; North Carolina; Kentucky; Montana; Maryland; Tennessee; Fitch Investors Service; finance; financial control; local government; budget deficits; state funds; taxes; legislature
-
Colored by Numbers
National Journal focuses on how "government budget forecasters offer various scenarios, both rosy and gloomy, but few ever hit the marks." The report finds that "despite all of the partisan rancor over tax cuts - or perhaps because of it - one thing seems certain: Ten-year budgets and the estimates they're based on are coming in for a good deal of scrutiny." The story looks at the political debate on government spending and projected tax cuts and exposes the fallibility of the forecasts prepared by the Congressional Budget Office. The author draws the conclusion that "budgetary restraint - in short enough supply, even during an epoch of deficits - may be entirely out of stock in an era boasting any surpluses at all."
Tags: money and politics; productivity; economic advisers; deficit; surplus; Republicans; Democrats; spending; revenue; Macroeconomics
-
"They Owe It All to Odio"
Cesar Odio, Miami's infamous ex-city manager, hired more than 100 staffers entirely at his own discretion. When the city's gross mismanagement first came to light, Miami was millions in the red. After FBI agents caught then-city commissioner Miller Dawkins accepting cash in exchange for his vote, and after Odio was charged with soliciting kickbacks for a city insurance contract, a massive budget deficit was revealed. A contributing factor to the shortfall, said one official, was "friends of friends" government in Miami. Odio exercised the policy freely and frequently.
Tags: Cesar Odio; Miami; city budget mismanagement; cronyism; nepotism
-
The Two Trillion Dollar Mistake
Worth Magazine probes the posibility that the defense build-up of the 1980's was unnecessary. The investigation finds that without this massive build-up, the present day national budget would be a surplus rather then the current deficit. (February, 1996)
Tags: 11 pgs.Mead; The two trillion dollar mistake; Reagan; Cold war; Soviet Union; 11 pages