Blogs

Calling low spending caps and congressional resistance to cost-saving reforms a “double whammy,” Defense Secretary Ashton Carter warned last week that the military cannot carry out its strategic objectives without changes. Carter told the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee that “if…

A new report on the financial assets of older Americans highlights the need for many people to save more money to avoid running short in retirement. Between 2010 and 2012, more than a fifth of the Americans who died at…

Some lawmakers are chipping away at their colleagues’ opposition to a badly needed new round of military base realignment and closures. Members of the House Appropriations Committee included language in the Military Construction/Veterans Administration funding bill that asks the Pentagon…

Innovation can help the U.S. health care system improve care and engage new community partners -- all with an eye towards reducing the rate of health care spending, according to experts at a conference Wednesday at the University of Iowa.…

The country’s fiscal and demographic challenges are so large that elected officials in both parties have a responsibility to work together to find bipartisan solutions, according to two Iowa state legislators. “At times it can seem like there is nothing…

Voters are likely to see some budget proposals from presidential candidates in the coming year that might seem more appropriate for Disney’s Fantasyland than the Oval Office. Chase Hagaman offers that warning in a recent guest column for the Nashua…

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 --…