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On its current path, the $18.1 trillion debt is projected to rise to nearly $27 trillion -- and perhaps even more -- by 2025. “Rising interest payment on the debt, along with higher entitlement spending, more health care costs and…

The House Ways and Means Committee has approved a measure that supporters incorrectly claim would prevent federal defaults if the statutory debt limit were reached. The legislation attempts to prioritize which payments the government would make in that situation, with…

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…