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.
‘Line’ Items: French Open Edition
Clay Masterpiece – Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer played yet another classic tennis match yesterday, with Nadal once again emerging victorious for his...
TARP Bids Farewell to Chrysler
Yesterday, Treasury announced that it would be selling its 6.6 percent equity stake in Chrysler to Fiat, which represents the last outstanding TARP...
Moody's Issues Warning on Debt Ceiling
We can't just seem to catch a break from ratings firms. About a month and a half after S&P downgraded the U.S. rating outlook from stable to negative...
Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson: The Gang of Six is our best shot
In an op-ed today in the Washington Post, CRFB board members Erskine Bowles and Senator Alan Simpson argue that the Gang of Six -- despite hitting a...
USA Today on TRICARE
Today's edition of USA Today features an editorial advocating increasing premiums for military retirees enrolled in TRICARE. The editorial correctly...
Boehner and 150 Economists Make Statements Against Clean Debt Ceiling Increase
This morning, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) released a statement signed by more than 150 economists furthering the call for spending cuts...
Between the ‘Line’s: Feeling the Heat, Coming Clean, and Disaster Dilemma
Feeling the Heat – As most of us return to work this week nursing sunburns and swapping stories of grilling glory, the heat is on in Washington, at...
Ending Tax Breaks Will, In Fact, Help the Budget
The Washington Post has a story today saying that ending retirement savings tax expenditures would save little money. The argument is a familiar one...
Taking a Closer Look at the Charitable Deduction
Though recent discussion about "spending in the tax code" has brought fresh attention to tax expenditures, much of the discussion has been about how...
Trading of Credit Default Swaps on U.S. Debt Doubles
Trading of credit default swaps (CDS) insuring U.S. treasuries has doubled in the last year in response to fears over our inability to deal with our...
WaPo Endorses Chained CPI, Cites Moment of Truth Project Paper
Today's editorial in the Washington Post, "The Chained CPI, an easy way to save money," endorses switching to the chained CPI for indexation of all...
Senate Rejects Four Budgets
Yesterday, the Senate voted on four budget resolutions ( Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) , Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)/ House Passed Budget...