Yesterday, CBO put out a new report on the system for taxing U.S. multinational corporations, a somewhat complex but important topic when it comes to corporate tax reform. The report both describes the current system and its shortcomings, while presenting options for reform.

In short, our current international tax system works as follows:

The Internal Revenue Service has continued to warn Congress of the administrative consequences of going over the fiscal cliff.

The chained CPI has been receiving much attention lately after being included in the latest offers from both the GOP and White House. Some critics of the policy have been voicing their concerns, and yesterday, CRFB chimed in again to clear up the misconception that moving to the chained CPI would be regressive.

The recent offers from the White House and Republican House leadership have shown that both parties appear to be committed to finding a compromise. But lawmakers still have a long ways to go. Not only must Congress and the President find a way to replace the fiscal cliff, but they should do so with a plan that adequately addresseses our unsustainable debt problem. To do this, all ideas must be on the table.

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has released a new list of ten wasteful tax expenditures, totaling $130 billion over the next ten years. Whether it is tax breaks for NASCAR tracks, fishing tackle boxes, or films produced in the U.S., the list serves as a clear sign that there are plenty of places to look to raise revenue from tax expenditures. Coburn's list is below.

One option on the table that has great potential to be included in a final deal is the chained CPI. As we explain in our updated paper on the chained CPI, "Measuring Up," the current CPI overstates inflation because it doesn't account for substitution between different categories as relative prices change. Today, Marc Goldwein, CRFB's Senior Policy Director, further explained this policy in a CNN radio interview using the example of ham and turkey sandwiches. You can listen below:

Urban Institute scholar and CRFB board member Gene Steuerle writes in his blog The Government We Deserve that the current revenue proposals from both sides simply aren't enough to make a substantial dent in the deficit.

Yesterday, the Fix the Debt Campaign had a event with two roundtables bringing together many health policy and tax experts from across the political spectrum to discuss two of the central issues involved in the current budget negotiations.

Just as President Obama and the Republican leadership are trading offers, three think tanks--the Heritage Foundation, the Center for American Progress, and the Bipartisan Policy Center-- each offered ideas that could be used in the negotiations.

Tomorrow, the Campaign to Fix the Debt will be hosting a half-day event that will bring together tax, health, and budget experts for a series of discussions on pressing budget issues. The event will start at 8:30 AM and will feature remarks from former OMB director and current Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus (D-MT), and National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling.