Blogs

To meet the nation’s fiscal challenges, changes are needed throughout the federal budget. That includes domestic spending programs, defense and the inefficient tax code. But Medicare and Social Security reform are “a crucial part of the mix,” says Chase Hagaman,…

Congressional partisanship and inaction have often dismayed advocates of responsible fiscal policies in recent years. Phil LaRue, director of government relations for The Concord Coalition, points to examples such as the breakdown of the budget process and debt-limit showdowns that…

Congress must pass Social Security legislation by late next year to prevent the Disability Insurance Trust Fund from running dry, a crisis that would trigger automatic 19 percent cuts in disability benefits for millions of Americans. (more…)

There were no big surprises in the latest Long-Term Outlook from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). No real surprises, either, in this summer’s annual reports from the trustees who oversee Medicare and Social Security. “And that’s the problem,” say John…

With Congress now in its long August recess after failing to pass a single spending bill for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, speculation has understandably grown over the possibility of a government shutdown this fall. Senate Majority Leader…

The opening debates of the 2016 presidential campaign provided a disappointingly small amount of information on whether and how the Republican candidates might deal with the country’s tough fiscal challenges. At the two debates in Cleveland Thursday, some candidates mentioned…

Why should we make improvements now in Medicare and Social Security? “The simple answer is that the two programs can’t afford to pay the benefits they promise beyond the next 15 years or so,” explains Robert L. Bixby, executive director…

Congress will return from its long August recess without having passed a single one of the 12 appropriations bills needed for Fiscal 2016, which begins Oct. 1. Lawmakers are planning to fall back on a continuing resolution -- a stop-gap…