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.
CBO Takes a Look at the Pell Grant Program
Today, the Congressional Budget Office released a new report on Pell Grants which details the program and recent changes made to it, shows options to...
Returning to the Coburn-Lieberman Medicare Plan
Today, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) and former Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) sent a letter to House Ways and Means Chairman David Camp (R-MI) that...
The Potential Budgetary Effect of Military Action in Syria
Over the weekend, President Obama made his widely anticipated remarks on the conflict of Syria, making his case for taking military action against the...
President Proposes 1% Pay Increase for Federal Workers
Last Friday, President Obama sent a letter to Congress calling for a 1 percent pay raise for federal civilian workers next year. The White House...
$518 Billion? Inside the White House/Senate Negotiation's Math
Although Congress itself had been out of session prior to this week, some news last week came as the latest talks between the White House and a small...
The Tax Break-Down: Section 199, the Domestic Production Activities Deduction
This is the fifth post in our blog series, The Tax Break-Down, which will analyze and review tax breaks under discussion as part of tax reform. Last...
Two Views on the Debt Ceiling
It's September and that means we've entered the final month of the FY 2013 continuing resolution. While the threat of a possible government shutdown...
September 18 Event: "Defining Moments in Debt"
With Congress returning to DC, eyes are turning towards the fiscal speed bumps that they will face in the fall: funding the government, raising the...
Leon Panetta: Sequestration Creating Self-Inflicted Wounds
In today's Washington Post, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta criticizes the limited effort so far in replacing sequestration. Panetta...
Making Disability Insurance Work Better
Naturally, lawmakers are diverting their attention to resolving sequestration, the debt ceiling, and the expiring continuing resolution, but another...
The Health Exclusion and Employer-Based Insurance
Last week, the Kaiser Family Foundation released its annual survey on health costs, prompting a wide range of reactions from " Health Care Costs Rise...
Carter and Weinstein: Look Beyond Ten Years
In an op-ed in POLITICO, former Senate Budget Committee staffer James Carter and Fiscal Commission adviser Paul Weinstein advised lawmakers to look...