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.
Fiscal Speed Bumps Will Keep the New Congress Busy
Although the 114th Congress is just getting settled, it will have to move quickly to address a series of deadlines with serious policy and fiscal...
The Other Fiscal Implications of the New House Rules
The recently adopted House rules for the 114th Congress are getting attention in the budget world mostly for their requirement that the Congressional...
The House's New Rule on Dynamic Scoring
This week, the House approved a rule change related to dynamic scoring. Specifically, the rule would require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and...
House GOP Kicks Off New Congress with Fiscal Irresponsibility
The 114th Congress has barely even started and House Republicans are already proposing to explicitly ignore pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules that require...
Hatch Calls for Tax Reform in the 114th Congress
If tax reform is going to happen in the 114th Congress, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) will be a central figure as the incoming Chairman of the Finance...
Top 14 Charts About the Budget in 2014
This year was an eventful one for the federal budget. To explain the year's events, CRFB wrote 427 blogs, 17 papers, and created more than a hundred...
Senators Chambliss and Coburn Bid Farewell, Talk Fiscal Issues
The end of the 113th Congress saw the retirement of two Senators who actively fought for controlling and limiting the U.S. federal debt. Senators...
CBO Shows Social Security is in Financial Trouble
It is clear that Social Security faces financial challenges. This year, its own Trustees estimated the combined trust funds would run out of reserves...
Senator Cardin Proposes Reform With a Consumption Tax
Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced the Progressive Consumption Tax Act last week that would reform the tax code and change the way that tax revenue...
CRS Talks About Need for Fiscal Sustainability and Plans to Achieve It
The Congressional Research Service's Jane Gravelle recently put out a paper on plans to address long-term deficits and debt. The piece both goes...
Maya MacGuineas: How Much the Growing Debt Costs U.S. Households
Maya MacGuineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, wrote a commentary that appeared in the Wall Street Journal Washington...
Discussing the Uncertainty of Long-Term Budget Projections
An old saying goes, "Nothing is certain but death and taxes." But in budget projections, neither of those things -- mortality rates nor revenue levels...