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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.

Oct 3, 2019 | Budget Process

Representatives Rice, Barr Introduce Fiscal State of the Nation Resolution

Last week, Representatives Kathleen Rice (D-NY) and Andy Barr (R-KY) introduced a bipartisan bill to make it harder for Congress to ignore the...
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Oct 2, 2019 | Social Security

What Would Social Security 2100 Mean for the Debt?

Saving Social Security from its looming trust fund insolvency would significantly improve the overall fiscal picture. Under the Congressional Budget...
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Oct 1, 2019 | Taxes

Kamala Harris's LIFT the Middle Class Act

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) has called for giving a $3,000 per person ($6,000 per couple) refundable tax credit...
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Sep 30, 2019 | Budgets & Projections| Other Spending

Will Thanksgiving Appropriations Be Stuffed with Debt?

Having just enacted a continuing resolution last week to extend current government funding through November 21, policymakers must now work toward the...
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Sep 25, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

Eugene Steuerle: Multi-Trillion Dollar Fiscal and Monetary Gambles

Dr. Eugene (Gene) Steuerle is an Institute fellow and the Richard B. Fisher chair at the Urban Institute and a member of the Committee for a...
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Sep 23, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

Marjorie Margolies: When will the 2020 presidential candidates be asked about America’s debt?

Marjorie Margolies is president of Women’s Campaign International and a member of the board of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. ...
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Sep 18, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

We Updated the Debt Fixer and Released Results Showing Americans Can Fix the Debt

We have updated our popular Debt Fixer interactive budget tool, just as Congress faces another deadline to keep the government funded and avoid a...
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Sep 17, 2019 | Other Spending

Elizabeth Warren's Higher Education Plan

In April, 2020 presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) unveiled a plan for “universal free public college and cancellation of student...
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Sep 16, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

Eugene Steuerle: Congress is supposed to decide how the U.S. spends money. Soon, it won’t be able to.

Dr. Eugene (Gene) Steuerle is an Institute fellow and the Richard B. Fisher chair at the Urban Institute and a member of the Committee for a...
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Sep 11, 2019 | Taxes

Is Spending, Not Tax Cuts, Driving the Deficit?

The House Ways and Means Committee minority recently published a blog post claiming that "spending, not tax cuts, [is] driving national deficits." It...
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Sep 11, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

Tim Penny & David Minge: Debating 2020 Democrats should not ignore our exploding debt

Tim Penny is co-chair and David Minge is a board member of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Both are former representatives from the...
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Sep 9, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

Debt Could Reach Record Levels by 2030

The Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) latest budget projections point to high and rising debt under current law, but the situation is far worse if...
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Sep 6, 2019

CRFB Co-Chair Mitch Daniels on Bloomberg TV

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget co-chair Mitch Daniels, former director of the Office of Management and Budget, appeared on Bloomberg TV's...
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Sep 4, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

New House Members Stress Importance of PAYGO

A group of ten new Democratic members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to House committee chairs on Wednesday urging them to better...
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Sep 4, 2019 | Social Security

Marc Goldwein: A better way to cut the payroll tax rate

Marc Goldwein is senior vice president and senior policy director of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He recently wrote...
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Aug 30, 2019 | Health Care

How to Reduce Health Costs By $900 Billion

There is no single magic bullet to rein in the high cost of health care for households, businesses, and governments. But lawmakers are currently...
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Aug 29, 2019 | Economics

Maya MacGuineas: With a growing debt, a fiscally responsible blueprint is needed to handle the next recession

Maya MacGuineas is president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and head of the Campaign to Fix the Debt. She recently wrote an...
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Aug 21, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

New CBO Budget Projections Show Toll of Budget-Busting Legislation

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just released its latest baseline, projecting high and rising debt made worse by recent legislation. CBO...
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Aug 19, 2019 | Taxes

How Much Would a Payroll Tax Holiday Cost?

Update 8/20/19: While speaking in the Oval Office, President Trump confirmed that a payroll tax cut and indexing capital gains were under discussion...
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Aug 15, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

Where Does the Budget Stand Compared to Historical Averages?

Recently, there has been a lot of discussion over whether the country has a revenue problem or a spending problem. While there is no way to...
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