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With less than three weeks remaining in the fiscal year, Congress is heading towards another failure to complete the budget process. None of the twelve FY 2012 appropriations bills have been enacted. The House has passed six bills, and the…

The new congressional “super committee” meets today amid growing pressure from various quarters to look for ways to encourage economic growth while aiming well beyond its assigned goal of $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction.Washington’s debt limit law this summer created…

It is not inconsistent to provide effective short-term support for the economic recovery while laying the groundwork for long-term deficit reduction. To do so, however, Washington will have to move beyond the inflexibility and partisan vitriol of the recent debt…

Speculation continues over whether congressional Democrats and Republicans might be able to reach some sort of agreement on tax reform this fall. In her most recent column in Tax Notes, Concord Chief Economist Diane Lim Rogers reviews some of the…

After Republicans and Democrats on the new super committee held separate discussions last week, the co-chairs announced that the full panel would hold its first meeting this Thursday. It is expected to focus on organizational issues and opening statements from…

The administration has lowered its deficit projections from last February but cautions that further action is needed to invigorate the economy in the short term and hold down deficits in the long run.Jack Lew, director of the Office of Management…

While elected officials have an obligation to encourage public engagement on the nation’s fiscal challenges, their constituents should work to ensure that members of Congress -- particularly those on the new super committee -- take their views into account. (more…)

In blunt but appropriate language, Federal Reserve Chairmen Ben Bernanke used a high-profile speech late last week to criticize Washington’s handling of the recent debt limit controversy and to call for a better process for making fiscal decisions.Speaking at an…