#Budget Process

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…

Many Americans ask why it is so difficult to rein in federal spending. Former U.S. Sen. John Danforth and Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert L. Bixby have a suggestion: “Perhaps they should look in the mirror.”That’s because nearly two thirds…

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…

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…

New projections from the Congressional Budget Office show a potential path to significantly reduce federal deficits over the next decade. But it would require elected officials to either stick to current law or find ways to offset any deviation from…

Deficit reduction talks this year have largely taken place behind closed doors, without engaging the public in any meaningful way. But Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition, argues that the dozen lawmakers who have been appointed to…

In this debt-limit game of musical chairs, the music has stopped and it’s time to grab a seat. The only one available is the deal worked out by congressional leaders and the Obama administration over the weekend. It is not…

With time running short to raise the federal debt limit, Republicans and Democrats are planning votes this week on competing plans that President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner championed in speeches to the country Monday night.Obama called for “shared…