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.
Vote to Repeal IPAB Shows Why It's Necessary
Update: CBO has estimated that the IPAB repeal bill (HR 452) would increase spending and deficits by $3 billion from 2013-2022. On Wednesday, the...
Tim Penny: Presidential Candidates Must Address our Debt
Note: This op-ed was originally published in The Hill. After a year in which the country was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy and the federal...
GAO Highlights Inefficiencies in the Federal Government
On Tuesday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on possible duplication and overlap by government agencies. This is the...
Explaining the Three Scenarios in "Primary Numbers"
Last week, we released our in-depth analysis of the debt impact of the four Republican candidates’ budget proposals, a report that received a...
Steny Hoyer Says "Go Big"
On Monday, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) gave a speech calling for Congress to "Go Big" on deficit reduction. Hoyer opened by making the...
‘Line’ Items: Big Events Edition
(Go) Big Events – The Academy Awards and the NBA All-Star Game competed for attention Sunday night. Both events are more about showmanship than...
Not Out of the Woods Yet: State Fiscal Issues in FY 2013
Last year, our Spotlight on the States series highlighted many contentious battles to eliminate budget shortfalls in state capitals across the country...
The Chained CPI and the Advantages of Going Big
CBPP released a paper last week re-affirming their support for switching to the chained CPI for calculation inflation adjustments for benefit programs...
What Do the Candidates' Plans Look Like in 2017?
The U.S. Budget Watch report " Primary Numbers: The GOP Candidates and the National Debt" has generated a lot of buzz since its release last Thursday...
Rudolph Penner: Can Tax Reform Save the U.S. Economy?
Were it not for the growth in spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, the United States wouldn't have much of a budget problem. The two...
President Obama's Corporate Tax Reform Plan
True to this year's State of the Union address, the Obama Administration released a proposal Wednesday that seeks to lower the corporate tax rate from...
Fiscal Policy Enters Campaign Debate
Several developments this week give us hope that this election season will offer some much-needed focus on fiscal policy. Although exit/entrance polls...