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.
Celebrating 78 Years of Social Security
It's August 14 and that means it is Social Security's birthday! The program has been around for 78 years, providing retirement security to the elderly...
What the New GDP Numbers Mean for Budget Projections
Yesterday, we noted the revisions that CBO has made to its historical budget data going back to 1973, in light of the Bureau of Economic Analysis's...
Watch 160 Years of Population Aging...In One Chart
Over at Calculated Risk, Bill McBride has created an animated chart showing America's age distribution evolve, as far back as 1900 to the current day...
CBO Updates Their Historical Budget Data
Nearly two weeks ago, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its GDP report with a $560 billion upward revision for 2012. As we explained at the...
An Example of Reforming Beyond Tax Expenditures: Executive Compensation
Before leaving for August recess, Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced S. 1476, which would end the ability of...
Hubbard and Kane Highlight Budget Process Reform
This weekend in The New York Times, former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors Glenn Hubbard and the Hudson Institute's Tim Kane challenged...
MY VIEW: Bob Packwood
As the Senate Finance Committee looks to take up tax reform, one of the higher ranking members on the Committee who will likely shape the process is...
Ways and Means Committee Continues Work on Entitlement Reform
While everyone is focused on tax reform developments these days, we cannot forget about the need for entitlement reform. In an attempt to devise a...
The Still Unsolved Health Care Mystery
In yesterday's Washington Post, Robert Samuelson explores the unsolved "health spending mystery," whether the recent slowdown in health care spending...
Comprehensive Deficit Reduction Need Not Slash Retirement Benefits to Control Spending
A recent report from Scott Lilly at CAP makes the case that policymakers have only two real choices to respond to the future growth in debt levels...
Weinstein: Make Taxes Simple
As Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and House Ways & Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) continue their cross-country tax reform...
Tax Reform on the Daily Show
John Oliver, interim host of The Daily Show with John Stewart, opened last night's program with an update on tax reform. The segment is hilarious, but...