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.
How to Offset the Tax Extenders
Update (12/3): This blog has been updated to reflect a correction the Joint Committee on Taxation made to its estimate of the wind production credit...
Maya MacGuineas: Tax Break Talks Stall
Maya MacGuineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, wrote a commentary that appeared in the Wall Street Journal Washington...
Budget Busting Deal on Tax Provisions
Congressional negotiators are reportedly nearing a deal to address the year-end tax extenders while adding $500 billion to the debt. By reinstating...
Finding a Social Security Solution We Can All Agree On
In October, the National Academy for Social Insurance published a study on Americans' preferred solution to making Social Security solvent. CRFB...
House Bill Would Double the Cost of the Research Credit
Recent press articles report that policymakers are negotiating a deal to accompany a temporary restoration of most of the 55 expired tax extenders...
Measuring Inflation Right Saves $375 Billion
According to the latest CBO Budget Options report, adopting the chained CPI – an inflation index that most economists believe is a more accurate...
CBO Releases 2014 Budget Options
With the national debt at record highs and projected to increase, lawmakers need to find ways to reduce the long-term budget deficit. Fortunately, CBO...
Alice Rivlin: People who wanted market-driven health care now have it in the Affordable Care Act
Alice Rivlin is a former Director of the Congressional Budget Office and Office of Management and Budget. She has served as a member of the National...
Another Lame Duck Decision Point: Military Personnel Spending
CQ is reporting (subscription required) that the main obstacle to the defense appropriations authorization, which must be addressed during the lame...
The Worst Lame Duck Ideas That Can Add $1.5 Trillion to the Debt
Policymakers are considering using the lame duck session to substantially worsen the nation's budget. A commonly discussed package would add...
CRFB's Plan to Offset Upcoming Policies
Congress and the President need to prep for some important upcoming fiscal moments, and CRFB has a plan to help them do just that. The Paying for...
New CBO Estimates Set the Stage for "Doc Fix" Discussions
Following a final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), CBO has updated its estimate of various "doc fix" policies to...