In his view, the whole thing was probably a hoax, scare tactics calculated to make the American taxpayer more willing to hike defense spending and thus taxes.

She was elected on November 2, 2010, pledging to cut wasteful spending, lower taxes to create more jobs, end "pay-to-play" practices and other corruption in government and fight to reform education.

But the benefit is realised only if a spending tax replaces other existing taxes and the tax burden as a whole is either unchanged or reduced.

Health care, arguably, was a budget bill, as it affected spending, taxes and entitlement programs.

Republicans say they are determined to remind voters that Mr. Corzine's party is responsible for the past four years of ethics problems and steep increases in spending, taxes and state debt.

Against this backdrop, there is the ever-present need for comprehensive spending reforms-including tax and entitlement reform.

It would give the President the authority to withhold money on certain spending, tax and future entitlement items.

Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, insisted that Brown had given a barnstorming performance and the prime minister punched hard in the opening half on the economy, trying to pin down an elusive Cameron on spending, corporation tax and efficiency savings.

The Legislature killed his proposed steep cuts in spending, taxes and college financing, leaving intact only a new welfare plan that is among the nation's toughest.

Fiscal sustainability, or public finance sustainability, is the ability of a government to sustain its current spending, tax and other policies in the long run without threatening government solvency or defaulting on some of its liabilities or promised expenditures.