Blogs

National health expenditures grew more quickly in 2014 than in recent years, according to a new report by actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). While the five previous years saw historically slow growth, in 2014 spending…

Congress last week again failed to address the structural challenges facing the Highway Trust Fund. Instead lawmakers approved a 5-year bill that increases spending on highway and transit projects but relies on unrelated revenue sources and budget gimmicks. Supporters say…

Washington’s fiscal year began two months ago but elected officials still seem a long way from agreement on spending plans for the next 10 months. As in past years, the regular budget process broke down and lawmakers are now trying…

In Washington, a new holiday tradition is forming: Congress passing large tax breaks without paying for them. At the end of last year, lawmakers retroactively extended 50 temporary provisions -- known as tax extenders -- for 2014. Now reports indicate…

Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, will discuss his federal budget plans in a live studio interview at 5 p.m. EST today as part of Fiscal Fridays, the public affairs television series on the New Hampshire-based NH1…

Dealing with the federal debt should be a top priority for the presidential candidates, according to a new paper by Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition, and Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal…

With the federal budget on an unsustainable path, Iowa residents should press presidential candidates to explain what they plan to do about it, according to a guest column in the Waterloo Courier by two members of First Budget’s Iowa Cabinet.…

After reauthorizing transportation programs for three weeks late last month, lawmakers are once again poised to pass another short-term extension to give themselves more time to negotiate an agreement on a multi-year bill. Lawmakers say they do not have enough…