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.
Senate Transportation Bill Finds Offsets for Three Years of Funding
The Senate is discussing a bill that would reauthorize highway programs for six years and provide $47.6 billion of funding to cover the Highway Trust...
Finance Committee Approves Extenders, Adds to Debt
The Senate Finance Committee today approved a package of 50-plus tax breaks that expired last year known as "tax extenders." Unfortunately, they chose...
Inversions Come Up As An Offset Possibility
The House Budget Committee Democrats jumped into the transportation debate last week with a proposed surface transportation reauthorization that...
Social Security Costs Keep Increasing Over the Long Term
CBO's Long-Term Budget Outlook, released last month, included updated projections for Social Security and Medicare, including individuals' expected...
Bipartisan House Bill Would Keep Extra Congressional Allowances Unspent
Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI), Reid Ribble (R-WI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Pat Tiberi (R-OH) introduced a bipartisan bill (H.R. 3077, the Giveback Deficit...
Second Half of the Year Means Plenty of Fiscal Speed Bumps Ahead
As we move past the midpoint of 2015, several fiscal deadlines are fast approaching. Congress is preparing to act on two important Fiscal Speed Bumps...
GAO: 2013 Debt Limit Showdown Shows Need to Consider Reform
Last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report to Congress on the debt limit, showing that the failure to raise the debt...
Newest President's Budget Estimate Shows Stable Debt
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) today released the FY 2016 Mid-Session Review (MSR), which updates the President's budget for new data and...
Good News But Also Warning Signs in the Medicaid Actuaries' Report
The Chief Actuary for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the 2014 Medicaid Actuarial Report forecasting Medicaid...
House Transportation Plan Uses Elements that CRFB Highlighted
Here at CRFB we spend a lot of time reviewing responsible options to offset the cost of new bills and have provided many to lawmakers. So when current...
Ways & Means Starts the Conversation on Reforming SSDI
The House Ways & Means Committee held a hearing last week to investigate possible changes to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program...
Bundled Payments Get a Boost
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) continues to push forward important delivery system reforms, last week announcing a new...