Issue Briefs

I. Introduction The annual Budget and Economic Outlook released on Feb. 5 by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) contained some good news. The deficit is coming down. The debt is relatively stable over the coming 10 years. Revenues are going…

I. Introduction Federal borrowing is once again near the statutory debt limit. At the end of last year, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner notified Congress that the $16.394 trillion limit had been reached and that his department would begin…

“Campaign to Fix the Debt,” a new initiative to push for comprehensive fiscal reform, is being launched in Washington today. The campaign calls the unsustainable long-term path of the federal debt “a grave challenge to our future.” The goal is…

Over the past several weeks, there has been a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill as Congress considers legislation to reauthorize federal surface transportation programs. The previous authorization bill was enacted in 2005 and expired in 2009. Since then, Congress…

While elected officials are celebrating an agreement to extend the payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits and the “doc fix” on Medicare reimbursements through the end of this year, there would be much more to celebrate if the deal had included…

Many people were urging members of the deficit reduction super committee to “go big.” Now it appears that they will just go away. It’s yet another disappointment in a year that has seen many failed attempts at a “grand bargain”…

The AARP has launched a misleading and divisive ad campaign aimed at excluding Social Security and Medicare from any deficit-reduction proposals that might be developed by the new congressional “super committee.”This could have a dramatic negative impact on other government…

The tax proposals in President Obama’s latest deficit-reduction plan have led to partisan charges and counter-charges of “class warfare.” Journalist have focused heavily on his proposed “Buffett Rule,” which Obama says would ensure that people like Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett…