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.
Five Ways to Improve the Senate Tax Bill
The current Senate version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) would add too much to the debt, but several improvements could make the bill both more...
Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles: A Moment of Truth for our Country’s Financial Future
Alan Simpson is a former Republican senator from Wyoming. Erskine Bowles served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 1998. They co...
Tax Policy Center Dynamically Scores House Tax Bill
The Tax Policy Center (TPC) today released a new dynamic analysis of the House-passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), adding more proof that tax cuts...
Gene Steuerle: A Debt Straightjacket or a Misdiagnosed Disease?
Noting rising public and private debt across the developed world, International Economy magazine asked a group of economists, including me, “Has the...
Comparing the Latest House and Senate Tax Bills by Provision
In broad fiscal terms, the House and Senate tax bills are very similar. Both plans would cost more than $1.4 trillion over ten years on paper while...
Leon Panetta: Blowing Up the Debt is a Threat to America
As the tax bills under consideration by the Congress make clear, the congressional budget process is badly broken — and there’s no longer any pretense...
Dynamic Scoring Confirms: House or Senate Tax Bills Would Still Add to Debt
As more dynamic estimates of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) are released, they all confirm that tax cuts do not pay for themselves. Because both the...
Leon Panetta and Other Former Defense Secretaries: Debt-Increasing Tax Bill Threatens National Security
An open letter to Congressional leaders from Leon Panetta, Ash Carter and Chuck Hagel.
New Senate Tax Bill Cuts Less Than $3.7 Trillion of Tax Breaks
One of the main goals for tax reform has been to follow the mantra of "broaden the base, lower rates." Yet despite over $18 trillion of tax...
New Senate Tax Bill Hides Over $500 Billion of Gimmicks
NOTE: This is an old version of this analysis based on a version of the bill considered by the Senate Finance Committee. The bill was later modified...
Checking the Facts on the Steve Forbes-Maya MacGuineas Tax Discussion
On Mornings With Maria, publisher and former presidential candidate Steve Forbes made several claims about tax cuts and economic growth during a...
Senate Tax Bill Could Add $1.8 Trillion to Debt
The Senate version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is estimated to increase deficits by $1.5 trillion over ten years. However, even this cost does...