Blogs

House Republican leaders are suggesting the use of “fast-track” legislative procedures to revamp and simplify the federal tax code next year. In remarks last week, however, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp tied the proposed overhaul to an…

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said this week that the nation does not have to “choose between national security and our fiscal security,” but he urged Congress to avoid what he called “disastrous” cuts scheduled to start in January in both…

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released an excellent analysis on the "Economic Effects of Reducing the Fiscal Restraint That Is Scheduled to Occur in 2013." The CBO term “fiscal restraint” has been more popularly referred to as “the fiscal…

The Medicare actuaries have released updated alternative scenarios for the program, providing data and analysis that underscore the possibility that its long-term costs could well turn out to be higher than last month’s annual report from the Medicare trustees indicated.…

In late April, the Medicare Trustees released an annual report on the financial status of the program. In their report, the trustees are required to analyze where Medicare costs are heading based on a strict reading of current law. However, there are…

Washington faces big decisions this year on budget issues that include tax cuts, “automatic” spending cuts and an increase in the federal debt limit. But recent remarks by elected officials underscore the deep differences between many Republicans and Democrats. (more…)

Hundreds of concerned citizens across the country have engaged in thoughtful and often spirited discussions about federal budget options this month through Principles & Priorities, The Concord Coalition’s popular deficit-reduction exercise.Working in groups of a half-dozen people or more, participants…

Last week the House passed legislation to replace most of the automatic spending cuts required in Fiscal Year 2013 with cuts to mandatory spending programs. The Budget Control Act requires the automatic spending cuts because the Joint Select Committee on…