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.
Maya MacGuineas Testifies Before House Financial Services Committee
CRFB president Maya MacGuineas testified before the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday, December 20. The hearing, entitled "The Peril of...
CBO Releases Latest Budget Options Report
Today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its "Options for Reducing the Deficit, 2019-2028" report, featuring 121 policy options and their...
The Deficit Has Never Been This High When the Economy Was This Strong
This year, the budget deficit is projected to total about $970 billion – 4.6 percent of GDP – up from $666 billion (3.5 percent of GDP) in 2017. This...
How Much Does the Government Really Owe?
When analyzing the fiscal health of the country, we often focus on federal government debt held by the public. Data published by USAFacts allows us to...
JSC Markup Amendment Tracker
November 30 Note: The Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform was unable to advance its legislation out of committee on a...
Maya MacGuineas Discussed Rising Interest on NPR
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, discussed our deteriorating fiscal situation, including how the U.S...
Momentum for Lower Drug Prices Emerging
Policymakers have been quietly making progress on lowering drug prices in recent weeks. Most notably, the Department of Health and Human Services...
Beware the Budget Busters in the Lame Duck
The lame duck Congress will return to Washington with an important to-do list that includes either finishing the seven unfinished appropriation bills...
The Tax Bill Did Not Cause Revenue to Rise
A common misleading claim this fall has been that tax revenues have increased, even with the large tax cuts enacted last year. While it is technically...
Resources and Recommendations for Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform
In February, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 established the Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform (JSC) tasked with...
A 5 Percent Discretionary Cut Still Provides Ample Spending
President Trump has asked each cabinet secretary to propose a plan to cut 5 percent of their agency's budget for next year. Assuming this cut is...
3rd Quarter Growth of 3.5 Percent is Good News, But Doesn't Reflect a Sustained Boost
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) today announced its initial estimate that the economy grew at a 3.5 percent annualized rate in the third quarter...