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Elected officials in both parties have made what I call “magical, mystery tax pledges” that are at odds with bipartisan approaches to serious deficit reduction:Republicans: Don’t raise revenue above the 40-year historical average of around 18-19 percent of GDP.Democrats, including…

Federal budget experts and ordinary citizens alike are asking for greater scrutiny of defense spending as part of a larger effort to reform the federal budget.“The rationale for including defense in a deficit reduction plan has invoked the concept of…

Congressional leaders have completed their appointments to a deficit-reduction panel proposed by President Obama but the group will have little time to develop a long-term plan, and some of those named have not shown great enthusiasm for the broad-based approach…

If President Obama and Republican leaders in Congress hope to build consensus around a plan for fiscal sustainability, they are off on the wrong track. They seem instead to be sharpening their differences.A meaningful long-term plan will require compromises in…

Projected federal deficits are so large that Congress should look far beyond the non-defense spending on which it has heavily focused in recent weeks.In a guest commentary on ABC.com, Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert L. Bixby notes that bipartisan groups…

As Washington wrapped up this year’s spending plans last week, The Concord Coalition’s Fiscal Solutions Tour encouraged Iowa residents to focus on larger challenges facing the country: an aging population, rising health costs, and structural problems in the federal budget.Tour…

The 2011 budget process finally came to a close last week when President Obama signed legislation funding the government for the remainder of the fiscal year. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the $1.05 trillion in non-emergency spending in the…

President Obama has jumped into the debate over long-term fiscal responsibility with a plan that differs sharply from the one unveiled earlier this month by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), chairman of the House Budget Committee. In a welcome move, Obama…