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.
VA Health Bill Should Be Offset
The House will vote this week on a bill that would temporarily extend then replace the Veterans Choice Program, which allows veterans facing long wait...
Does the Rescissions Bill Undermine Children's Health Care?
Many have criticized President Trump's $15 billion rescission package for cutting the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). For instance, a...
It Would Take Nearly Unprecedented Economic Growth to Balance the Budget
Increased economic growth has often been cited as a solution to our fiscal problems or as a way to offset deficit-increasing legislation. However...
Explaining the House Farm Bill
The 2014 farm bill expires on September 30, which means policymakers have less than five months to pass a new one. The House Agriculture Committee has...
What's in the President's Rescission Request?
Update: CBO released an estimate of the effect of the CHIP rescission on outlays and coverage. CBO estimates that the proposed rescission would not...
A Conversation with CBO Director Keith Hall
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and our partners at the Campaign to Fix the Debt hosted a conference call conversation with Dr. Keith...
Multiemployer Pensions: The Next Source of Budget-Busting Legislation?
The newly-created Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Plans is tasked with crafting legislation to improve the finances of the nation...
Mandatory Spending Makes Up the Bulk of Spending Growth
Over four-fifths of the growth in nominal spending over the next decade is driven by Social Security, federal health programs, and interest on the...
Rescissions, How Do They Work?
Recent press reports have indicated that the Trump Administration is looking to use a process known as rescission to cut spending from the recent...
Judd Gregg: Fixing the unfixable — the federal budget
Judd Gregg, a former Republican senator from New Hampshire, served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee from 2005 to 2007 and ranking member...
A "Cheat Sheet" to Our Recent Work on Debt
Over the past month, we've been explaining different elements of CBO's recent budget outlook. Below is a summary of our recent work. Decade of Debt...
Republican Study Committee Releases FY 2019 Budget
While the House and Senate Budget Committees have yet to release a budget for FY 2019, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) has released its own...