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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The Worst Lame Duck Ideas That Can Add $1.5 Trillion to the Debt
Policymakers are considering using the lame duck session to substantially worsen the nation's budget. A commonly discussed package would add...
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CRFB's Plan to Offset Upcoming Policies
Congress and the President need to prep for some important upcoming fiscal moments, and CRFB has a plan to help them do just that. The Paying for...
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New CBO Estimates Set the Stage for "Doc Fix" Discussions
Following a final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), CBO has updated its estimate of various "doc fix" policies to...
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Remembering Bill Frenzel
This post is a letter from CRFB President Maya MacGuineas about the passing of former Congressman and CRFB co-Chair Bill Frenzel. You can also view...
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Highlights from CBO's New Data on Income Distribution and Taxes
The CBO has updated its data on the distribution of income and taxes. This analysis contains a wealth of data detailing changes in household income...
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SSDI: Challenges beyond its Trust Fund
Henry Aaron – Chair of the Social Security Advisory Board and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution – recently weighed in on the Social...
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Gene Steuerle: Pushing on Air in a Balloon--Health Cost Growth and $1,000 Pills
Dr. Eugene (Gene) Steuerle is the Richard B. Fisher chair and Institute Fellow at the Urban Institute and a member of the Committee for a Responsible...
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Updated ISIS Request Should Set Bar for War Spending
As expected, the Obama Administration today issued amendments to its FY 2015 war spending (Overseas Contingency Operations) request, adding $5.6...
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Are Accelerated Write-Off Provisions Effective?
Two of the biggest items among the tax extenders that Congress may consider before the end of the year are two provisions that allow accelerated write...
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The President's Emergency Funding Request on Ebola
The White House this week requested an additional $6.18 billion in discretionary appropriations for the current fiscal year to cover the costs...
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Lame Duck To-Do (and Don't) List
With the 2014 midterm elections mostly in the books, the current Congress will return from weeks of campaigning to finish some remaining items before...
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Former Senators Say that Entitlement Work Remains Unfinished
Over the long term, the country's debt is projected to grow to unsustainable levels. This outlook has not changed for the last two decades, according...