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.
MY VIEW: Maya MacGuineas April 29 2011
Today's Washington Post features an op-ed by CRFB president Maya MacGuineas on ways to improve President Obama's debt failsafe proposal. She writes...
Targeting Budget Process, Triggering Fiscal Progress
“Trigger” has become the term du jour in the budget world as of late, particularly as it relates to the debt limit, and it doesn’t refer to shooting...
Senator Reid In Favor of 'Deficit Cap' in Debt Limit Increase
Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), proposed adding a "deficit cap" to forthcoming legislation to increase the debt ceiling. While...
Stimulus Provisions: Extended or Not?
In early 2009, lawmakers enacted an economic stimulus package to help stem the economic freefall which was shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs per...
Former CRFB Chairman Leon Panetta Selected to Be Next Secretary of Defense
UPDATE: Gordon Adams over on CG&G argues that Panetta is the right man for the job for three reasons: he knows budgets, he's a decisive administrator...
What Happens If China Stops Buying Our Debt
Megan McArdle at The Atlantic writes about what happens if China stops buying U.S. Treasury bonds. She points out that a fiscal crisis is unlikely to...
MY VIEW: David Stockman
In Sunday's New York Times, CRFB board member David Stockman wrote an op-ed discussing the recent budget proposals from President Obama and House...
‘Line’ Items: Post Easter Edition
After the Bunny – Easter has come and gone. Chocolate-induced comas are being overcome and many -- though not Congress -- return this week from spring...
CBO: The Role of Automatic Stabilizers in Deficits
Yesterday, CBO released a report on the effect of automatic stabilizers on the deficit, showing that in recent years, they have added hundreds of...
The Case for a Debt Failsafe
Yesterday, CRFB released an analysis of President Obama's new deficit reduction framework meant to save $4 trillion dollars over 12 years. Using CBO's...
CRFB Releases Paper Analyzing President's Framework
This morning, CRFB released a paper analyzing President Obama's new budget framework which the President laid out last week in a speech at the George...
Ideas for Improving IPAB
As our readers know, CRFB is a big proponent of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) created under health reform to control Medicare cost...