George Hager
GEORGE HAGER joined the USA Today editorial board in July 2006 after serving as USA TODAY’s White House editor from 2005-2006. From 2002-2005 he was the paper’s defense and foreign policy editor, supervising coverage of the Defense Department, the State Department and U.S. intelligence agencies. From 1999-2002, he was an economics reporter for the paper, covering the Federal Reserve, monetary policy, the Treasury Department, domestic economic trends and international lending organizations. He previously covered economics for The Washington Post and served as a senior writer and editor at Congressional Quarterly. In 1998-99, he was an economics writer with The Washington Post. In 1988-98, he was a reporter, senior writer and finally an editor at Congressional Quarterly. He was the 1996 winner of the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress.
Recent Stories By George Hager:
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S&P Downgrade of U.S.: What Nerve!August 6, 2011
Here are five quick thoughts on S&P's downgrade of U.S. debt. 1) Let's get this out of the way first. What nerve. S&P is one of the credit rating firms that just four years ago were giving...
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It's Time to Really Start Worrying about DefaultJuly 17, 2011
As we head into a potentially pivotal week in the crucial debt limits talks in Washington, here are what I believe are the four most troubling questions about the impasse – and the even more...
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Note to Toomey: “Prioritizing” Spending Would be a Chaotic NightmareJune 17, 2011
Debt Ceiling: Complete Coverage Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., has an idea, and it's a not a good one. He's the intellectual leader of a movement in Congress that believes failing to lift...
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After TARP, Financial Armageddon is Very RealJune 2, 2011
There are now just two months to go before all the tricks the Treasury is deploying to keep the government from hitting the debt ceiling no longer work. With luck, negotiations will produce a budget...
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GOP Overreaches on Medicare...AgainMay 26, 2011
Too bad Newt Gingrich took back what he said on Meet the Press about the House Republicans' plan to transform Medicare being radical and politically dangerous. He was right, as evidenced by the ...
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Debt Limit Requires a Budget Gimmick. Seriously.April 28, 2011
It's time for a budget gimmick. Seriously. The best way -- maybe the only way -- to avert a crisis over the debt limit in the next several weeks is for both parties to adopt a shameless gimmick that...
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Democrats, Obama Look Feckless on Budget DealApril 11, 2011
The deal that averted a government shutdown Friday night is a huge win for House Republicans, for the Tea Party and for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who hung tough to the last possible minute...
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Could GOP Raise Taxes and Dems Tackle Social Security? March 28, 2011
Magical things happen if you sit long enough behind closed doors with your ideological opposites, sparring over how to get control of the deficit. Glib solutions (cut waste, fraud and abuse) and...
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Is this 1995? Showdown over a Budget Crisis ShutdowFebruary 25, 2011
The new Republican speaker of the House demands a major downsizing of government, but has to yield to pressure from conservative freshmen to cut spending even more. The political atmosphere is so...
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Why the Balanced Budget Amendment is a FarceFebruary 4, 2011
Congressional Republicans have introduced at least nine different balanced budget amendments they want Congress to approve in exchange for raising the debt limit. The Senate's Tea Party caucus has...
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How Obama Whiffed on the State of the UnionJanuary 26, 2011
There's a reason a president wouldn't want to be too specific about deficit reduction in his State of the Union address. Be too bold and detailed and opponents would hang those proposals around his...
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GOP’s $100 Billion Pledge Goes BustJanuary 5, 2011
As if we needed further proof that governing is a lot harder than issuing campaign manifestos, now comes brand new Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., to say that, well, cutting spending is...