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.
We Need a War Spending Cap
One of the most popular budget gimmicks in Washington right now is the war savings gimmick. Because CBO assumes that discretionary spending grows with...
Marc Goldwein: How to Pay For the Payroll Tax Cut
In an op-ed for The Atlantic, CRFB Senior Policy Director Marc Goldwein made the case for offsetting the costs of the payroll tax cut, AMT patch, and...
Questions for the Candidates
This Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa, the Republican presidential candidates will debate for one of the last times before the Iowa caucuses on January 3...
House GOP Releases Extenders Package with Offsets
Today, House Republicans have officially released their plan to extend the current payroll tax holiday for a year, two years of doc fixes, and a year...
More on the Proposed Budget Process Reforms
As we reported on The Bottom Line the other day, Republican members of the House released a set of 10 pieces of legislation they argue would improve...
Appropriations Update: No Bill Left Behind?
Ever since the three appropriations bills and the temporary continuing resolution (CR) passed Congress last month, lawmakers have refused to consider...
Another Proposal to Extend the Payroll Tax Cut and Other Policies
Finding a way to extend the payroll tax cut, along with the many other expiring provisions this year, continues to be a dominating issue for Congress...
House Budget Committee Releases Budget Reform Points
Today, the House Budget Committee released a budget reform proposal consisting of ten different pieces of legislation. The package intends to address...
Eurozone Challenges Should Give Pause to U.S. Lawmakers
Europe's worsening debt crisis--notably Italy's--should serve as a warning to the United States of what can happen to an otherwise steady, solvent...
Spotlight on the States: Internet Sales Tax
Breaking from traditional posts in our Spotlight on the States series, this blog focuses not on one state's budget, but on an issue that directly...
‘Line’ Items: Bowl Edition
Bowled Over – The all-knowing BCS computers have chosen LSU and Alabama to contend for the college football championship. Both teams are familiar foes...
Senate Working to Extend Payroll Tax Cut
Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) unveiled another proposal for how to both extend and expand the payroll tax cuts and pay for them...