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.
Are We Spending Billions of Dollars More on the Military?
During his speech detailing his new strategy for Afghanistan, President Trump said, "Under my administration, many billions of dollars more is being...
Do Retroactive Tax Cuts Do Much to Boost Economic Growth?
As talk of tax reform heats up, some are calling for tax cuts to be made retroactive. An article in The Hill reports that Representative Mark Meadows...
Social Security's 82nd Birthday
Today, the Social Security program turns 82 years old. Social Security helps millions of Americans, and the program has a lot to celebrate. But the...
Problem Solvers Caucus Finds Bipartisan Compromise on Health Care
The bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus last week released a plan to stabilize the individual insurance market and make other changes to health care...
House and Senate Move Forward on FY 2018 Appropriations
The appropriations season is moving forward before Congress has passed a budget. Below, we explain how that can happen. Typically, Congress is...
Maya MacGuineas: Take It from a Fiscal Hawk: Raise the Debt Ceiling
Maya MacGuineas is president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and head of the Campaign to Fix the Debt. She recently...
Maya MacGuineas: 31 Years Later, Tax System Stuck in the 'Danger Zone'
Maya MacGuineas is president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and head of the Campaign to Fix the Debt. She recently...
CBO: Drug Importation Saves $1 Billion Per Year
A recently overlooked part of the health reform debate has been how to control rising costs. One way to do so would be to lower the price of...
Trustees' Report Confirms Medicare Cannot Be Ignored Much Longer
Though health care has been a hot topic in Washington this year, Medicare has been conspicuously absent from the debate despite being the largest...
Comparing "Repeal and Replace" Bills
Note (7/27/17): This blog has been updated to reflect the Congressional Budget Office's score of a hypothetical "skinny repeal" bill with additional...
Scoring "Skinny Repeal"
Update (7/27/2017): This analysis is now out of date. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a score of a hypothetical "skinny repeal" bill...
Mike Murphy: House Budget Rightfully Recognizes Threat of Oversized Debt
Mike Murphy, the Chief of Staff and Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, wrote an op-ed that is...