Here are the highlights from this weekend’s editorials on fiscal and budget policy:

The New York Times called on Congress to do more to create jobs.  They criticized Congress for not being able to pass "a puny bill that is expected to create, at most, a few hundred thousand jobs this year.  The Times suggested making another round of fiscal aid to the states to prevent counterproductive fiscal tightening.

The CBO released an updated cost estimate* of the Senate jobs bill yesterday. This larger bill calls for further increased funding for unemployment insurance and COBRA along with new proposals for increased Medicaid matches, Medicare physician payments, tax extenders, and other spending provisions.

Highway to Nowhere – Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) has blocked a vote on temporarily extending unemployment and COBRA benefits, the Medicare “doc fix” as well as some surface transportation programs funded through the Highway Trust Fund because the $10 billion cost is not offset. He wants unused economic stimulus funds to cover the cost. The Department of Transportation has furloughed 2,000 workers in response.

Here are the highlights from this weekend’s editorials on fiscal and budget policy:

Last night, Senator Jim Bunning blocked an effort to pass a one-month “extenders” bill by unanimous consent. The bill includes temporary extensions of unemployment benefits (and related provisions), COBRA health insurance subsidies, Medicare physician payment updates (to block a 21 percent cut), and other smaller provisions – all scheduled to expire on Sunday.

Today, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid introduced a second jobs bill, following the first $16 billion jobs bill (-$1.1 billion 11-year deficit impact) that passed the Senate on Wednesday. According to the CBO, this bill would provide about $10 billion for temporary extensions in existing measures, including unemployment insurance benefits, COBRA health subsidies, and Medicare physician payments.

A month ago, we called on those who oppose tax increases to take the spending challenge, showing us how to stabilize the debt only through spending cuts, and those who oppose spending cuts to show us how to stabilize the debt through tax increases. We think it will be quite difficult to get our fiscal house in order without addressing both sides of the budget.

The CBO has released its cost estimate of the Senate Jobs bill, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, as introduced by Senator Harry Reid last week (compare it to the House jobs bill here). The bill would provide about $15.6 billion in funds directed toward job creation.

A year ago today, Congress and the President enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, providing $787 billion in fiscal stimulus through a combination of spending increases and tax breaks. Recent estimates from the CBO now put the total cost of the bill at $862 billion, accounting for higher than expected costs for unemployment benefits, food stamps, and build America bonds.

 The Senate is likely to turn to a tightly focused jobs bill when it returns from the President's Day break next week. The bill, a much-scaled down version of legislation written by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont) and his ranking Republican, Charles Grassley of Iowa, contains provisions that the Congressional Budget Office said earlier this year would indeed help stimulate the economy.