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.
Ernst, Lankford, and Perdue Introduce The "No Budget, No Recess" Act
Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), along with Senators Lankford (R-OK) and Perdue (R-GA), today introduced the "No Budget, No Recess" Act." The legislation...
CBO: Fixing the Debt Could Increase Average Income by $6,000 Per Person
While some recent commentators have suggested Americans stop worrying about our debt, evidence shows there is a significant upside to addressing our...
Budget Changes in Proposed House Rules
House Democrats are proposing a package of rules to govern the House of Representatives in the 116th Congress. The package contains many changes from...
Our Top Fiscal Charts of 2018
The year 2018 was a busy time for budget policy, which gave us plenty of opportunities for analysis via tables and graphs. We published over 250 blogs...
Leon Panetta: Five Lessons that Never Seem to Be Learned from Shutting Down the Government
Leon Panetta is co-chair of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, former budget director and White House chief of staff under President Bll...
House to Vote on $100 Billion Lame Duck Tax Package
The House will likely consider a package of lame duck tax cuts costing almost $100 billion over ten years. About half of the cost comes from delaying...
What Happens in a Partial Government Shutdown?
Policymakers have until midnight on Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown. Lawmakers have already passed full-year appropriations for five of...
Maya MacGuineas Testifies Before House Financial Services Committee
CRFB president Maya MacGuineas testified before the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday, December 20. The hearing, entitled "The Peril of...
CBO Releases Latest Budget Options Report
Today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its "Options for Reducing the Deficit, 2019-2028" report, featuring 121 policy options and their...
The Deficit Has Never Been This High When the Economy Was This Strong
This year, the budget deficit is projected to total about $970 billion – 4.6 percent of GDP – up from $666 billion (3.5 percent of GDP) in 2017. This...
How Much Does the Government Really Owe?
When analyzing the fiscal health of the country, we often focus on federal government debt held by the public. Data published by USAFacts allows us to...
JSC Markup Amendment Tracker
November 30 Note: The Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform was unable to advance its legislation out of committee on a...