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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.

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May 20, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

Maya MacGuineas: Federal Disaster Funding Doesn't Have To Be An Emergency

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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May 17, 2019 | Budget Process

Hearing Recap: Fixing a Broken Budget and Spending Process – Perspectives of Two Former Chairmen

The Senate Budget Committee began a series of hearings on reforming the budget process on May 15. The first hearing, “Fixing a Broken Budget and...
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May 15, 2019 | Other Spending

Gimmick Alert: Congress Considering Increasing Spending Through Harbor Maintenance Maneuver

Having already used the war spending designation and fake mandatory savings to get around discretionary spending caps, lawmakers are turning to...
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May 15, 2019 | Other Spending

Options to Offset An Infrastructure Package

A meeting between Democratic Congressional leaders and President Trump a few weeks ago raised the possibility of an infrastructure package. The...
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Kent Conrad and Judd Gregg
May 13, 2019 | Budget Process

WATCH: Conrad and Gregg Testify Before Senate Budget Committee

Two former Senate Budget chairmen are testifying today before the Senate Budget Committee on the failures of the current budget process and the...
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May 13, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

Tim Penny & David Minge: Our Trillion-Dollar Problem Deserves Bipartisan Attention

Tim Penny is co-chair and David Minge is a board member at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Both are former Representatives from the...
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May 10, 2019 | Social Security

Event Recap: Unpacking the 2019 Social Security Trustees' Report

On April 26, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget hosted a lunch and panel discussion on "Unpacking the Social Security Trustees' Report."...
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May 10, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

IMF: U.S. Continues to Stand Out with Growing Debt

The United States ranks number one among advanced economies in expected increase of debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic...
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May 9, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

CBO Releases Its Own Estimate of the President's FY 2020 Budget

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its estimate of the President's FY 2020 budget. CBO finds that debt in the budget would be on an...
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May 8, 2019 | Taxes

Reviving Expired Tax Extenders Could Cost $150 Billion

For years, Washington has resigned itself to a patchwork of tax policy in place for one or two years at a time, allowing niche temporary...
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May 8, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

The Republican Study Committee's FY 2020 Budget: Preserving American Freedom

The Republican Study Committee (RSC) has released its own budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020, calling for $10.7 trillion in deficit reduction...
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May 3, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

President's Budget Gets Serious About Cutting Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

Update: the tables in this post have been updated with estimates from CBO's analysis of the President's FY 2020 budget. CBO does not provide specific...
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May 2, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

CBO's Updated Baseline Shows Grim Outlook

Today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its updated budget projections. The projections are relatively similar to January and...
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Apr 30, 2019 | Social Security

Social Security Shortfall Could Be Worse Than Reported

The 2019 Social Security Trustees Report estimates the program's trust funds face a 75-year actuarial shortfall of 2.78 percent of taxable payroll....
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Apr 26, 2019 | Budgets & Projections| Social Security

Watch: Unpacking the Social Security Trustees' Report

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget hosted a lunch and panel discussion today on Unpacking the Social Security Trustees' Report. You can...
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Social Security_Card_Layered
Apr 25, 2019 | Social Security

Social Security Will Start Spending Trust Fund Reserves Next Year

The 2019 Social Security Trustees' report reminded us that Social Security faces large and rising imbalances, projecting that the theoretically...
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Apr 25, 2019 | Social Security

The Good News on Social Security: We Have More Time to Improve Disability Insurance

This week's Social Security Trustees' report warned that the program is on a path toward insolvency, with the theoretically combined trust fund set...
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Apr 22, 2019 | Social Security

How Old Will You Be When Social Security's Funds Run Out?

The Social Security Trust Funds are on a path to run out. Use this tool to find out what you stand to lose unless Washington acts. If you're...
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Apr 19, 2019 | Health Care| Social Security

Quick Take: Social Security & Medicare Headed For Insolvency in 16 & 7 Years

The Social Security and Medicare Trustees have released their reports on the financial state of their programs. Both reports show the programs need...
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Apr 18, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

GAO: "Federal Government Is on an Unsustainable Fiscal Path"

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released its long-term budget projections, and, like other forecasts, it projects that debt will...
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