Blog
Welcome to our blog – The Bottom Line, where you’ll find up-to-date commentary and analysis on the most important news in the fiscal world. Below is a list of our blog posts.
2013 Appropriations Process Is Up in the Air
If there's anything people can agree on in Washington, it is that the current budget process is broken. Congress has not passed a budget resolution...
Understanding Fair-Value Accounting
One of the wonkier discussions that arise inside the Washington beltway from time to time is what accounting method to use for federal credit programs...
Sen. Corker Demands Fiscal Responsibility for the Transportation Bill
In an op-ed in the Washington Post, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) disapproves of the current debate on the transportation bill that is being considered. He...
Line Items: Primary Edition
Deficit Secondary in Primary – The presidential primary campaign hits a key point this week as "Super Tuesday" contests in several states may go a...
Kaiser Compares Premium Support Proposals
For those of you who have had trouble keeping track of the many premium support proposals that have come out over the past year, the Kaiser Family...
How Has the Tax Code Changed Since 1986?
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 is often hailed as a major bipartisan achievement, a reform that simplified the tax code and lowered marginal tax rates. Of...
The Limits of An All-Tax Solution
Tax Policy Center has a new paper out showing what tax rates would have to be in order to stabilize the debt at 60 percent of GDP in 2020, 2025, and...
The War Gimmick Simplified
With CBO recently having scored President Obama's 2013 Budget Request, included within the total score is a score of a policy known as capping...
Vote to Repeal IPAB Shows Why It's Necessary
Update: CBO has estimated that the IPAB repeal bill (HR 452) would increase spending and deficits by $3 billion from 2013-2022. On Wednesday, the...
Tim Penny: Presidential Candidates Must Address our Debt
Note: This op-ed was originally published in The Hill. After a year in which the country was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy and the federal...
GAO Highlights Inefficiencies in the Federal Government
On Tuesday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on possible duplication and overlap by government agencies. This is the...
Explaining the Three Scenarios in "Primary Numbers"
Last week, we released our in-depth analysis of the debt impact of the four Republican candidates’ budget proposals, a report that received a...