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Rep. Steven LaTourette’s announcement this week that he will not seek re-election underscores the difficulties that face elected officials who try to take a constructive, bipartisan approach to dealing with the nation’s most important challenges – notably the need for fundamental fiscal reforms.

“For a long time now, words like compromise have been considered to be dirty words,” the Republican said in a press conference in his Ohio district Tuesday. “And there are people on the right and the left who think that if you compromise you’re a coward . . . . you’re an appeaser.”

LaTourette, who has served in the House since 1995, has built a reputation as a moderate who seeks bipartisan compromise and is willing to challenge members of his own party when he feels they are taking less constructive positions. His frustration, echoed by many other moderates in Washington, should serve as a warning to American voters that partisanship and political intransigence are clouding the country’s future.

That’s particularly true in fiscal policy, as LaTourette indicated in his press conference. He understands the need for sweeping changes to put the federal budget on a more responsible and sustainable course, as recommended by an array of bipartisan groups, including...

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) today estimated that repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) would increase federal budget deficits between next year and 2022 by around $109 billion, only a small change from previous estimates. The CBO suggests that this can also be considered a rough estimate for how much the ACA reduces the deficit over the same time period.

The CBO cautions, however, that its estimates are uncertain because the projected effects of the law are themselves “highly uncertain.” The law contains some provisions that are projected to cost the government money, but others that would save money or provide additional revenue.

Also updated were CBO’s estimates of the budgetary effects of just the ACA’s health insurance coverage provisions in light of last month’s Supreme Court decision, which allows states to choose whether or not to expand eligibility for coverage under their Medicaid programs.

The budget office now estimates that these coverage provisions would have a net cost of $1,168 billion from 2012 to 2022, a net reduction of about $84 billion from estimates last March. This slightly reduced spending would come about because even with some states opting out of the relatively cheap Medicaid expansion and pushing some...

This post was co-authored with Louise Mackey, intern from the Washington Ireland Program 

Interest rates are at historically low levels, making borrowing very affordable for consumers -- and the United States government. When it issues debt, the federal government, like any other borrower, pays interest. This is how the government finances its annual budget deficits.

Why are interest rates so low now?

There are two primary reasons. First, during the recession there was less demand for credit. And to combat this, the Federal Reserve brought interest rates down to spur borrowing. Second, in response to the global economic slowdown, investors around the world have been desperate to place their money in a safe haven -- and U.S. Treasuries are still considered the safest investment in the world.

Interest rates are projected to stay at or near historic lows over the next two years as the economy continues to recover. Eventually, though, interest rates will begin to return to normal levels as economic growth puts inflationary pressure on the economy. This normalization of rates will increase the government’s borrowing costs. Those costs will also be going up simply because the government is borrowing...

The Medicare actuaries have just updated their projections for National Health Expenditures (NHE) and the overall picture they illustrate is a welcome one, but likely reflects temporary factors and cannot serve as an excuse for politicans to rest on their laurels.

On the plus side, health care cost inflation has slowed pretty dramatically over the last three years (2009-2011) and is also projected to be slower than normal for 2012 and 2013 -- with those costs staying nearly constant as a percent of GDP throughout the entire time period (around 17.9 percent). Furthermore, while spending is projected to jump in 2014, as the major health insurance provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) extend coverage to approximately 22 million people, over the period 2011-2021 spending is projected to grow at an annual average of 0.9 percent above GDP growth. This is good news because most budget experts consider health care cost growth of 1 percent over GDP the "gold standard" for a tough, but theoretically obtainable, spending target. (Historically, health care costs have risen 2 percentage points faster than GDP.)

The actuaries suggest most of the recent slowdown in health care spending can be attributed to the recession and...