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.
A New TARP Program for Community Banks
The Administration has just announced a new small business lending initiative under the Treasury’s TARP. According to a White House release, the new...
President Signs $121 Billion Farm Bill
Yesterday, President Obama signed the Agriculture Appropriations bill into law. The $121 billion measure includes $58 billion for food stamps -- a 7%...
Update on Senate “Doc Fix” Legislation
The Medicare physician payment bill (S 1776) sponsored by Senator Stabenow was defeated yesterday by a Senate vote of 47-53, as twelve Democrats along...
Beige Book Results
Today, the Fed released its latest Beige Book, with each Fed bank reporting on current economic conditions within its district. Reports from Fed...
Healthcare Savings Likely to be Eclipsed by Stimulus Extensions
Forbes had a piece Monday by Alex Brill and Amy Roden of the American Enterprise Institute about the potential for stimulus programs to expand the...
About Those Additional Stimulus Ideas...
With unemployment still growing, rising from 9.7 percent in August to 9.8 percent this past September, discussions have developed over the potential...
Only 30% of 2008 Tax Rebates Spent
Recently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on the results of the Economic Stimulus Payments, or tax rebates, of early 2008. Those who...
The Deficit Warnings Keep Coming
In a speech on global imbalances, Fed Chairman Bernanke again warned about the need to put the U.S. on a sustainable fiscal path, saying: "The United...
US Budget Watch Releases Analysis of Fiscal Implications of Health Care Reform Plans
Today US Budget Watch released "Evaluating Health Care Plans: An Analysis of the Short- and Long-Term Fiscal Implications of Reform Plans." The paper...
Congress Debates Medicare Payment Patches
Update: Debate on this issue got pushed back until today in the Senate. CRFB recently released this press release on the issue : Don't Let Doc Fix Add...
Weekend Editorial Roundup
Here are the highlights from this weekend’s editorials on fiscal and budget policy: In an editorial titled, “ 2.47 trillion dimes,” The Washington...
How the CBO Estimates Cost
UPDATE: Pete Davis and Donald Marron commented on this story and defend the CBO as the best way to estimate cost. Douglas Holtz-Eakin explains that...