My column from today's Roll Call was drafted the day before the Obama 2011 budget was released yesterday and then quickly updated to include some key facts and make my deadline.  It's a view from 100,000 feet of what's ahead the rest of this year.  Much more to come.

Obama’s Budget Shows the Tensions Between Jobs and Deficit

Feb. 2, 2010

What did the president really mean last week when he turned to his left from the podium, looked straight at the Republicans, and stated, “That’s how budgeting works”?

Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker (R-TN) once said that the first budget proposed by President Reagan was a "riverboat gamble."  My "Fiscal Fitness" column from today's Roll Call explains why this year's debate may more approprately be compared to Texas Hold 'em.

Here's my column from today's Roll Call.

What The Federal Budget Did on Its Summer Vacation

Here's my column from today's Roll Call.

Let He Who Is Without National Debt Sin Cast the First Stone

A small part of me is glad that bond market vigilantes are focused on the federal budget, the deficit and the national debt. Not caring about the amount that the government is borrowing would make bond traders far too much like the mortgage market that was willing to look the other way as no-doc, ninja (no income, no job or assets) and payment-option adjustable rate mortgage loans helped lead to the economic problems that we’re suffering through today.

But most of the bond market’s concerns are remarkably misplaced or misstated, and they are clearly being hyped for political purposes. Those in Washington, D.C., who are using these concerns to attract attention are not just incorrect but almost laughably wrong. They are also at least partly to blame for what they are now so willing to blame on others.

Here's my column from today's Roll Call.

The Bond Market Vigilantes Need To Chill Out

Here's my column from today's Roll Call.

It’s Time to Start Talking About the Budget Deficit

Note that the headline says “talking” rather than “doing” something about the federal budget deficit.

This is a critical difference. It’s still not time to take any actions that will reduce this year’s deficit. In the current economic environment, doing that when private-sector economic activity has not fully recovered would be a Herbert Hoover-like move that would be as incorrect a fiscal policy now as it was back then.

That’s not to say that there haven’t been some positive economic signs in recent weeks. Some things, like consumer sentiment and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, have been moving upward. Other statistics, like unemployment and mortgage defaults, continue to lag behind. And, while it looks good, it’s not at all clear whether the recent uptick in the Dow is real or a bear market rally.

Here's my "Fiscal Fitness" column from today's Roll Call.

Fiscal Finger Food Adds Up to One Big Feast on the Budget

This is one of those weeks when there’s time to catch up on new developments on a few items that I’ve already written about and to deal with a few stories that so far haven’t been big enough to merit a column of their own. Think of it as budget tapas, a series of small portions that are not that filling by themselves but make a complete meal when eaten together.

California Really Is Too Big to Fail. Ask yourself this question: If AIG and other Wall Street firms are considered by policymakers to be too big to fail, what does that say about California?

Here's my "Fiscal Fitness" column from today's Roll Call. Enjoy!

Here's my "Fiscal Fitness" column from today's Roll Call.

Here's this week's "Fiscal Fitness" column from Roll Call.

Strike Up the Band: 3 Budget Resolutions in 3 Straight Years

March 31, 2009
By Stan Collender
Roll Call Contributing Writer

I shouldn’t have to write this week’s “Fiscal Fitness.”

Please understand. I’m not complaining about having the opportunity to write the column. I’m also certainly not upset about Roll Call continuing to think the federal budget is important enough that it needs to devote some serious real estate to the topic. And the fact that I could be writing about the soon-to-start baseball season or the ridiculous casting on this season’s “Dancing With the Stars” instead of fiscal policy doesn’t merit a protest.