Blogs

As the nation grapples with devastating healthcare and economic consequences of the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers in Washington have been ratcheting-up their responses. Bills and proposals have included actions to fight the virus, maintain employment and stimulate the economy. Given…

While public health officials grapple with containing the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the United States, federal lawmakers are discussing emergency measures to help mitigate the associated economic fallout. A federal response is wholly appropriate, but Congress and the…

In a sudden burst of activity, congressional leaders this week reached a tentative agreement on all 12 annual appropriation bills for Fiscal Year 2020, which began on October 1st. The agreement will avoid a government shutdown on Friday December 20,…

For those wishing to take a deep dive into national health care spending, there is no better source than the annual report of the actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Their report of 2018 spending was released…

In football terms, it was fourth and long… very long. The chances of passing appropriation bills to fund government agencies for the current fiscal year, which began on October 1st, were slim. So this week Congress did what they have…

Over the last 27 years, I have followed The Concord Coalition’s initiatives on fiscal responsibility as I raised my family and continued my logistics career in central Indiana. In recent years, however, I became more than a passive supporter. I…

It’s official. The federal budget deficit for Fiscal Year 2019 was $984 billion, an increase of $205 billion from 2018. That was the grim news delivered on Friday, October 25th by the U.S. Treasury Department. The deficit increased as a…

The federal budget deficit for Fiscal Year 2019 was $984 billion (4.7 percent of GDP), according to a preliminary estimate issued by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Monday. This would be an increase of $205 billion over the 2018…