Jan 27, 2010 | Budgets & Projections
"If You Are Not For This Commission, Than What Are You For?"
"If you are not for this commission, than what are you for?" was Republican Senator George Voinovich's reaction to fellow...
Blog
Welcome to our blog – The Bottom Line, where you’ll find up-to-date commentary and analysis on the most important news in the fiscal world. Below is a list of our blog posts.
Jan 27, 2010
The Debt is Not Just a Beltway Problem
In this week’s debate on the Senate floor and the release of several congressional plans to address the deficit and debt, the national debt...
Jan 27, 2010
Steuerle's 'Fiscal Democracy Index'
This morning, CRFB board member Gene Steuerle claimed in a...
Jan 26, 2010 | Budgets & Projections
The Cost of Continuing "Current Policy"
Today, we released our...
Jan 26, 2010 | Budget Process
Blue Dogs Join the Call for Fiscal Reform
Today, the Blue Dog coalition released its...
Obama Partial Discretionary Spending Freeze : A Small First Step
President Obama will propose freezing "non-security" discretionary spending for the next three years (FY2011-13) when he unveils his new...
Jan 26, 2010 | Budgets & Projections
Budget Commission Falls Short
A proposal to form a bipartisan commission to address the nation’s mounting long-term debt just fell short of the 60 votes needed for...
Disgraceful
Senate vote on...
Deficit Falls Slightly, Debt Will Continue to Soar, CBO Warns
The federal deficit in FY10 is expected to be $1.35 billion--a slight drop from the $1.41 trillion in FY09--but still the second largest in...
Jan 25, 2010 | Budget Process
Budget Concepts Do Matter
Budgeteers have long argued that baselines matter. You have to know where you are going before you decide where you should be. We use...
Senate Faces Key Fiscal Votes This Week
The Senate will vote this week on key fiscal measures as it attempts to increase the nation’s...
Jan 25, 2010
Five More FDIC Bank Closings
On Friday evening, the FDIC reported that it has taken over an additional five banks (...
Jan 23, 2010 | Taxes
TPC Takes the Tax Challenge with Income Tax Rates
We recently invited folks to take the spending challenge and show how they would close the budget gap without raising taxes (or alternatively, take...
Jan 23, 2010 | Budgets & Projections
President Obama Voices Support for Deficit Commission
Here is the statement:The...
Jan 22, 2010 | Economics
Stiglitz, Stimulus, the Financial Sector and the Genie
Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz stopped by New America this week to discuss his new book "Freefall", about our economic and financial crisis...
Jan 22, 2010
The Goldilocks Fiscal Goal: 60%?
Picking a “fiscal goal” would be a great way to get the discussion started about what policies to enact to close the budget gap. It...
Jan 21, 2010
Live Tweeting the Debate on the Federal Debt
Update: The debate between Maya MacGuineas and Brad Delong is about to begin. See the live tweets here: ...
Jan 21, 2010
Develop Debt Reduction Plan Now, MacGuineas, Others Tell Congress
The nation's soaring federal debt can no longer be ignored and Congress and the president must develop comprehensive plans to avoid a...
Time to Bring Back Caps
As the Senate continues its consideration of the debt ceiling today, it will...
WH, Congressmen Hold Important Talks on Fiscal Commission and PAYGO
Senior congressional Democrats late Tuesday met with the White House to attempt to hammer out a deal that would create a fiscal commission and a...
