The Latest

Many state and local governments have done little to address growing structural problems in their budgets that have been aggravated by federal deficit-reduction efforts, according to the State Budget Crisis Task Force.The bipartisan organization released its final report last week,…

Health care spending over the past four years grew at the slowest rate in more than half a century, according to a new report by by the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.It says…

A new report by the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) found that health care spending over the past four years grew at the slowest rate recorded in more than half a century.…

IRS National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson released her annual report last week, saying that additional funding could improve revenue collection and customer service. As The Concord Coalition has previously argued, however, a more comprehensive solution would be for Congress…

Congress kicked off the second session of the 113th Congress this week with elected officials still haggling over long-term unemployment compensation while appropriators rushed to complete long-overdue spending legislation.This morning the Senate narrowly voted to proceed with debate on a…

Insurance policies sold on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges went into effect Jan. 1 after a three-month open enrollment period marked by problems on the government’s Healthcare.gov website.The federal government is operating insurance exchanges, also called “marketplaces,” for 36…

The Senate Monday voted 56-26 to confirm Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen as the Fed’s next chairman. Yellen, who will be the first woman to serve in that position, will succeed Ben Bernanke.In nominating her last fall, President Obama…

Residents of the Quad Cities community on the Iowa-Illinois border showed their support for improving America’s long-term fiscal outlook in two recent budget exercises hosted by Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) and facilitated by The Concord Coalition.As in similar exercises that…