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With a particularly destructive wildfire season this year, the U.S. Forest Service is struggling with the cost of firefighting operations -- and warning Congress of even more difficult times ahead. “In 1995, fire made up 16 percent of the Forest…

Skyrocketing prescription drug costs have blown a hole in the Pentagon’s health care budget but lawmakers disagree on how to lower these costs, with many of them unwilling to alter military benefits. Some senators, including Armed Services Chairman John McCain,…

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released updated projections that reinforce the need for presidential candidates to explain how they would curb the federal debt over the next decade. “Even with declining short-term deficits and slowing health care costs, Washington…

Two members of First Budget’s Iowa cabinet are calling on voters to engage presidential candidates on how to put the nation on a sustainable fiscal course. Jeff Angelo, a former Republican state senator from Ames, and Jeff Danielson, current Democratic…

Congressional partisanship and inaction have often dismayed advocates of responsible fiscal policies in recent years. Phil LaRue, director of government relations for The Concord Coalition, points to examples such as the breakdown of the budget process and debt-limit showdowns that…

It has been easy for advocates of generationally responsible tax and spending policies to look at Capitol Hill with dismay for the past few years. A few consequences of inaction and lack of bipartisanship include: A complete breakdown in the…

Congress must pass Social Security legislation by late next year to prevent the Disability Insurance Trust Fund from running dry, a crisis that would trigger automatic 19 percent cuts in disability benefits for millions of Americans. (more…)

There were no big surprises in the latest Long-Term Outlook from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). No real surprises, either, in this summer’s annual reports from the trustees who oversee Medicare and Social Security. “And that’s the problem,” say John…