Blogs

In a recent speech in Jerusalem, President Obama seems to have struck a responsive chord when he encouraged his listeners – particularly young people in the audience -- to ignore the competing claims of extremists and take the push for…

The House and Senate passed budget resolutions with largely partisan votes before leaving for a two-week recess. Resolving the two competing visions of fiscal policy in the weeks ahead will be difficult, though both parties should accept the challenge and…

Senate Democrats and House Republicans this week put their opening budget bids on the table, and there are substantial differences between them. The key question is whether the two parties are now prepared to start serious negotiations that could lead…

Today the Senate Budget Committee considered the budget resolution that Chairman Patty Murray released yesterday. The blueprint calls for a mix of spending cuts and tax increases to reduce the deficit and lower the debt-to-GDP ratio. Under Murray’s plan, the…

In his semiannual report to Congress on monetary policy last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke threw in some solid advice on fiscal policy as well. Let’s hope lawmakers were listening.While some progress has been made toward reducing federal deficits…

Americans around the country can support long-term fiscal reform by encouraging their elected representatives to consider the updated framework that Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson released last month.Bowles and Simpson co-chaired the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which…

Unable to reach agreement on a better alternative, elected officials allowed the sequester’s arbitrary spending cuts to begin taking effect late last week. But even if these cuts remain in effect, the federal budget will still be on an unsustainable…

Back in August of 2011, with the nation’s debt bumping up against its statutory limit and an election year looming, President Obama and Congress made a deal. They would empower a special committee (the “super committee”) to reach a long-term…