Blogs

Congress will soon have to decide whether to approve the administration’s recent $5.6 billion request for additional Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding to fight ISIS. The contingency fund generally supports activities related to immediate war efforts and is exempt from…

Part of the long to-do list for the lame duck Congress is deciding whether to authorize new spending for operations against ISIS while setting broader defense priorities in a constrained fiscal environment. The administration recently requested an additional $5.6 billion…

The Pentagon’s 5-year plan will significantly exceed current spending caps, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).The spending caps were established by the 2011 Budget Control Act. In making its projections, the CBO used some assumptions…

Republicans and Democrats alike sounded some encouraging notes on potential bipartisan cooperation in the wake of last week’s election, including the possibility of tax reform and less fiscal brinksmanship. Some areas of disagreement and conflict, of course, have been reviewed…

Last Wednesday, President Obama requested approximately $6.2 billion to combat the Ebola epidemic. As Congress examines and debates this proposal, it is an important opportunity to reexamine our government’s budgetary policies. (more…)

Looking towards today’s election and beyond, two former U.S. House members in Iowa recently urged aspiring political leaders -- including presidential hopefuls visiting the state -- to focus on reining in the federal debt. “Over the next decade, under current…

Although Ebola has grabbed the headlines lately, hospitals in the United States have long struggled to reduce other types of infections that often prove fatal. A recent analysis by Kaiser Health News underscores the problem: “Nationally about one in every…

Nearly 64 million Americans who receive Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will get 1.7 percent cost-of-living increases for next year. By law, these increases are based on the government’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), an inflation measure that…