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.
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What Will Happen If the Government Shuts Down?
Here we go again. With government funding set to expire in one week and no clear plan appearing yet, it is possible that the government will shut down...
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Sanders and Clinton Release Plans to Tackle Prescription Drug Costs
Over the past few weeks, the two leading Democratic candidates for President, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders (I...
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Highway Trust Fund Runs Out Next Summer
According to a new Department of Transportation (DOT) estimate, the Highway Trust Fund will likely last until late next summer instead of at the end...
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Fiscal FactCheck: The Second Republican Debate
This blog is part of the “ Fiscal FactCheck ” series designed to examine the accuracy of budget-related statements made during the 2016 presidential...
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Did the 1986 Tax Act Lead to Long Sustained Growth?
In the debate, Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) claimed that “the Ronald Reagan tax cuts of 1986…brought about one of the longest sustained periods of...
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Would It Cost Hundreds of Billions to Deport All Unauthorized Immigrants?
One claim regarding illegal immigration from last night’s debate focused on the cost of forcibly removing unauthorized immigrants from the United...
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Is Social Security’s Insolvency Date 7 or 8 Years Away?
During a discussion on Social Security, Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) said, “Harvard and Dartmouth says that Social Security’s going to go insolvent in...
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Is the National Debt $19 Trillion?
Quite a few candidates in last night’s debate mentioned the size of the national debt, but not all were able to do so successfully, with some saying...
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Is the Number of Workers per Social Security Retiree Declining?
In the so-called "undercard" debate, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) stated: “In 1950, there were 16 workers for every retiree. How many are there today...
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Did We Cut Taxes When We Last Balanced the Budget?
Governor John Kasich (R-OH), who our previous Fiscal FactChecker pointed out was a key player in the 1997 balanced budget agreement, claimed last...
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Ways & Means Committee Keeps Cutting Taxes, Adding to Debt
The House Ways & Means Committee today approved tax and health breaks costing nearly $420 billion over ten years, or almost $520 billion with interest...
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Auerbach-Gale Projections Also Show Unsustainable Debt Picture
Alan Auerbach and William Gale at the Tax Policy Center recently released their frequently-updated budget projections. Their new outlook is familiar...