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.
What's In the Inflation Reduction Act?
Update (9/7/2022): The Congressional Budget Office has released an official score of the final version of the Inflation Reduction Act, finding it will...
Event Recap: Medicare and Inflation
On July 27, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget hosted an event on " Medicare and Inflation." The event featured opening remarks from Josh...
Extending the Student Loan Payment Pause is Bad Policy
Note: (8/30/2022): Since the publication of this blog the Biden Administration announced another four-month extension to the student loan pause...
CBO Releases July 2022 Long-Term Budget Outlook
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just released its July 2022 Long-Term Budget Outlook, its first extended baseline since March 2021. CBO's long...
Senate Insulin Proposal to Increase Prescription Drug Costs
The Senate may soon vote on the bipartisan Improving Needed Safeguards for Users of Lifesaving Insulin Now (INSULIN) Act, a bill designed to cap...
CBO Estimates "Chips-Plus" Bill Would Cost $79 billion
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released a cost estimate for H.R. 4346, a “chips-plus” economic competitiveness bill. CBO estimates the...
WEP/GPO Repeal Would Mean Earlier Insolvency for Social Security
Congress may soon consider legislation to repeal Social Security's Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO)...
Build Your Own Carbon Tax
One way for the federal government to raise new revenue and reduce greenhouse gas emissions would be by putting a price on carbon. A carbon tax could...
Christopher Towner: Cut debt and tax carbon to help bring down inflation
Chris Towner is research director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He recently wrote an opinion piece for Madison News , an excerpt...
Reconciliation Criticisms Are Off Base
As possible elements of a deficit-reducing reconciliation agreement have emerged, critics have attacked the plan for increasing recession risk...
Just How Big Are Federal Interest Payments?
According to the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) latest baseline, the federal government will spend $400 billion on interest payments on the...
Reconciliation Could Improve Medicare Solvency
According to press reports, policymakers are considering broadening the base of the 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) or self-employment...