Policy Briefs Archives - Page 9 of 18

Policy Briefs

Supreme Court Upholds ACA’s Insurance Subsidies

Jun 30, 2015

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court last week ruled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) allows government subsidies for individuals who purchase health insurance on federal exchanges in states that don’t set up their own exchanges. Opponents of the…

Policy Briefs

‘Dynamic Scoring’ Likely to Add Uncertainty to Budget Process

Jan 6, 2015

The House of Representatives is expected to approve a new rule requiring the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) to incorporate the estimated macroeconomic effects of major legislation into their official scores. This process, often…

Policy Briefs

House Renews Tax Breaks Without Plan to Pay for Them

Dec 7, 2014

After a larger deal fell apart, the House recently voted 378-46 to approve a one-year extension of more than 50 lapsed tax breaks for businesses and other special interests -- unfortunately, without paying for them. The Joint Committee on Taxation…

Policy Briefs

This Year’s Campaigns Largely Overlooked Fiscal Issues

Nov 3, 2014

The next Congress will face difficult budget issues, ranging from the pending insolvency of the trust fund for Social Security disability insurance to proposals to overhaul the inefficient tax code. Yet many candidates for federal office this year -- Democrats, Republicans, incumbents…

Policy Briefs

Lawmakers Use Gimmick to Patch Highway Funding

Jul 15, 2014

The House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee approved similar plans last week to transfer $10 billion to the Highway Trust Fund so it can continue making payments to states through next May. Unfortunately, both plans rely on…

Policy Briefs

Gimmicks Can’t Get Around Demography

Jul 15, 2014

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) today released new long-term projections that underscore the need for Washington to move beyond excessive partisanship and budget gimmickry to pursue the broad fiscal reforms necessary to meet the nation’s fiscal and demographic challenges.“There are…

Policy Briefs

Concord Executive Director Testifies in Favor of Biennial Budgeting

Jun 25, 2014

Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert L. Bixby told a House subcommittee last week that switching to a two-year budget cycle would make time for better congressional oversight, improve long-term planning and help lawmakers focus on broad fiscal reforms.The testimony came…

Policy Briefs

GAO Report Underscores Need to Improve Long-Term Fiscal Outlook

May 5, 2014

President Obama and Congress may have put fiscal sustainability on the back burner, but the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has not. In its annual update of the federal government’s long-term fiscal outlook, released last week, GAO warns: (more…)

Policy Briefs

A New Year’s Challenge: Fiscal Fitness

Jan 21, 2014

The gyms are packed this month as people try to follow through on their New Year’s resolutions to get into better shape. Sara Imhof, Midwest regional director for The Concord Coalition, wrote in an op-ed Sunday that the nation’s fiscal…

Policy Briefs

Fiscal, Monetary Policy ‘Working in Opposite Directions’

Jan 14, 2014

Although Federal Reserve officials generally have their hands full with monetary policy, congressional mistakes and miscalculations on the federal budget have led outgoing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to repeatedly offer suggestions on fiscal policy that lawmakers would do well…

Policy Briefs

No Extension for ‘Tax Extenders’ This Year

Dec 16, 2013

In a change of pace from its usual practice, Congress is allowing a group of temporary tax provisions known as “extenders” to expire at the end of the year.The extenders, like other tax expenditures, are federal subsidies that encourage certain…

Policy Briefs

‘Challenging Every Assumption’ at the Pentagon

Nov 18, 2013

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the military is “challenging every past assumption, every past formula” in trying to reorganize itself for 21st century challenges in the face of a rapidly tightening budget.Uncertainties about sequestration and the Fiscal 2014 budget in…

Policy Briefs

Supreme Court Upholds ACA’s Insurance Subsidies

‘Dynamic Scoring’ Likely to Add Uncertainty to Budget Process

House Renews Tax Breaks Without Plan to Pay for Them

This Year’s Campaigns Largely Overlooked Fiscal Issues

Lawmakers Use Gimmick to Patch Highway Funding

Gimmicks Can’t Get Around Demography

Concord Executive Director Testifies in Favor of Biennial Budgeting

GAO Report Underscores Need to Improve Long-Term Fiscal Outlook

A New Year’s Challenge: Fiscal Fitness

Fiscal, Monetary Policy ‘Working in Opposite Directions’

No Extension for ‘Tax Extenders’ This Year

‘Challenging Every Assumption’ at the Pentagon

Support Our Mission to Restore Fiscal Discipline

You are leaving The Concord Coalition.

You are leaving Concord Action.