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.
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President Signs $121 Billion Farm Bill
Yesterday, President Obama signed the Agriculture Appropriations bill into law. The $121 billion measure includes $58 billion for food stamps -- a 7%...
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Update on Senate “Doc Fix” Legislation
The Medicare physician payment bill (S 1776) sponsored by Senator Stabenow was defeated yesterday by a Senate vote of 47-53, as twelve Democrats along...
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Beige Book Results
Today, the Fed released its latest Beige Book, with each Fed bank reporting on current economic conditions within its district. Reports from Fed...
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Healthcare Savings Likely to be Eclipsed by Stimulus Extensions
Forbes had a piece Monday by Alex Brill and Amy Roden of the American Enterprise Institute about the potential for stimulus programs to expand the...
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About Those Additional Stimulus Ideas...
With unemployment still growing, rising from 9.7 percent in August to 9.8 percent this past September, discussions have developed over the potential...
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Only 30% of 2008 Tax Rebates Spent
Recently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on the results of the Economic Stimulus Payments, or tax rebates, of early 2008. Those who...
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The Deficit Warnings Keep Coming
In a speech on global imbalances, Fed Chairman Bernanke again warned about the need to put the U.S. on a sustainable fiscal path, saying: "The United...
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US Budget Watch Releases Analysis of Fiscal Implications of Health Care Reform Plans
Today US Budget Watch released "Evaluating Health Care Plans: An Analysis of the Short- and Long-Term Fiscal Implications of Reform Plans." The paper...
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Congress Debates Medicare Payment Patches
Update: Debate on this issue got pushed back until today in the Senate. CRFB recently released this press release on the issue : Don't Let Doc Fix Add...
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Weekend Editorial Roundup
Here are the highlights from this weekend’s editorials on fiscal and budget policy: In an editorial titled, “ 2.47 trillion dimes,” The Washington...
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How the CBO Estimates Cost
UPDATE: Pete Davis and Donald Marron commented on this story and defend the CBO as the best way to estimate cost. Douglas Holtz-Eakin explains that...
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One More FDIC Bank Closing
On Friday evening, the FDIC reported that it has taken over an additional bank ( San Joaquin Bank) for a cost to the FDIC of around $103 million. This...