Blogs

Congressional negotiators presented often-contrasting views on taxes, defense spending, health care, safety net programs and the economy as they held their first formal meeting Monday to develop a joint budget resolution for Fiscal 2016. The House and Senate approved separate…

With a 240-179 vote, the House of Representatives passed legislation last week that would repeal the estate tax without offsetting the lost revenue, adding $269 billion to the deficit over the next decade. The House also approved legislation that --…

With presidential hopefuls kicking off their official campaigns, voters should keep in mind that the next occupant of the White House must lead the country in putting the government on a more responsible and sustainable fiscal path. So candidates should…

Congress and the President should work together to build a better debt limit, something which The Concord Coalition reiterated in an op-ed last week on The Hill's Congress Blog. Ben Ritz, Concord’s legislative outreach director, argues in the blog that…

Pentagon officials have given Congress lists of “unfunded requirements” that are in addition to their official 2016 budget requests, attempting again to persuade lawmakers that fiscal austerity efforts are squeezing the Defense Department too tightly. The military services have compiled…

Speaking in New Hampshire on Thursday, former senators Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) explained why presidential candidates need to focus on developing credible budget plans -- and how voters can encourage them to do so. “New Hampshire residents…

The House and Senate last week approved Republican 2016 budget blueprints that promise a balanced budget within 10 years, call for higher defense spending and envision repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The plans, however, rely on some gimmicks and…

Last week the House overwhelmingly approved (392-37) a bipartisan plan to repeal Medicare’s flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) payment formula for physician services. To avoid having to fully offset the cost, however, the House waived statutory “pay-as-you-go” (PAYGO) rules. The…