Topic: U.S. Congressional Budget Office
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'Fiscal cliff' 101: 5 basic questions answered
President Obama and congressional leaders are working to stop the US from going over the “fiscal cliff,” a combination of higher taxes and lower spending set to take effect Jan. 1. Here are five steps to understanding what's going on.
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6 ways to avoid the 'fiscal cliff'
Republican congressional leaders and President Obama sharply disagree over how to deal with the impending “fiscal cliff.” But a successful plan shouldn’t be that hard to put in place. Here are six ways Washington can avoid the “fiscal cliff.”
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Six points where Mitt Romney and his economic advisers are mostly wrong
Mitt Romney’s economic plan is largely based on a whitepaper written by several “heavyweight” economists. The problem is, it's riddled with fundamental flaws. Here are six points where Mitt Romney and his economic advisers are mostly wrong about what ails the American economy and how to fix it.
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Briefing
Obama vs. Romney 101: 5 ways they differ on debt and deficits
President Obama and Mitt Romney offer sharply different views on how to get the nation back on a sustainable fiscal path. Here are five ways they differ on policies to cope with a soaring debt.
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The Paul Ryan budget: 5 go-to sources for understanding it
Looking for in-depth analysis of the Paul Ryan budget plan? D.C. Decoder has compiled a list of excellent sources to help you sort out truth from fiction.
All Content
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Donald Marron
What really pays for Medicare?Many Americans believe that Medicare is financed like Social Security – mostly through payroll taxes – but that's not the case. Payroll taxes only cover a third of Medicare's cost, with other revenues and borrowing accounting for the rest.
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CBO director: more eurozone turmoil would be 'bad news for US economy'
Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf, at a Monitor breakfast Wednesday, said the challenges Europe faces now are 'larger than ever' and weighing on the US stock market.
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Donald Marron
The real effect of expiring tax cutsIn deciding the fate of expired and expiring tax cuts, lawmakers should consider the larger problems facing our tax system. That system is needlessly complex, economically harmful, and widely perceived as unfair. And it fails at its most basic task: raising enough money to pay our bills.
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Ben Bernanke to Congress: Get America's fiscal house in order. Please. (+video)
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers Thursday that the Fed alone can't put Americans back to work. 'I'd be much more comfortable if Congress would take some of this burden,' he said, bluntly.
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Economist Mom
CBO budget outlook: a long-term view of the 'fiscal cliff'While this year's report doesn't offer anything new, the long-term budget outlook is a good way to take a step back from current policy debates and put impending decisions in the context of the bigger picture .
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Bill Clinton suggests extending tax cuts
The former President suggested a temporary extension would give the political parties time to work out a compromise.
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Tax VOX
A better way? The case for a new kind of tax reformThere is nothing inevitable about the glum estimate set forth in the Congressional Budget Office's latest fiscal policy snapshot. What if Congress retained the level of taxation set by current law, while collecting the money in a much smarter way?
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Decoder Wire
CBO report: US could be the next Greece – in 2037The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its annual report, and the US is still facing significant debt problems. What Congress does after November could have a big impact.
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Tax VOX
Is the GOP tax reform strategy a fiscal trap?As a matter of pure tax policy, our tax analyst analyzes the different option on the table. Ideally, Congress should build the best possible tax base and then adjust the rates to meet an agreed-upon revenue target. But in a partisan Congress, few things are 'ideal.'
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Robert Reich
US wages and Europe's austerity: the perfect stormWhat if Europe and the US converged on a set of economic policies that brought out the worst in both – European fiscal austerity combined with a declining share of total income going to workers? Given political realities on both sides of the Atlantic, it is entirely possible.
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Robert Reich
How to avoid austerity but still fix the deficitAs Europe has shown us, austerity is bad for weak economies facing large budget deficits. But it can be avoided by getting growth and jobs back first, and only then tackling budget deficits.
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Tax VOX
How the debt limit delay will affect US fiscal policyWhat if hitting the statutory debt limit does not happen until sometime in the first quarter of 2013? That is increasingly likely, say the folks who watch this sort of thing. And it would completely change the politics of the coming train wreck.
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Federal Reserve official: If Congress dawdles, economy will fall 3 percent
Congress must sort out a raft of fiscal issues before Jan. 1, or it will cost the US economy dearly, said New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley.
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Economist Mom
Turning the 'fiscal cliff' into a gentle slopeEconomists and policymakers worry that the recovering US economy won't be able to handle the amount of deficit reduction headed its way in the coming months. It can;t be avoided, but it can be made easier to overcome.
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Could 'fiscal cliff' push US into recession? Four questions answered.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) warned in a report Tuesday that if Congress does not deal with a raft of fiscal measures by Dec. 31, the US could enter another recession. So what is this fiscal cliff and what is Congress doing about it?
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Donald Marron
How to fix flawed Medicare budgetingBudgeting for Medicare's hospital insurance program is flawed. Here are two ways to fix it (and one way not to).
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Economist Mom
How to make the Bush tax cuts workThe expiring Bush tax cuts would be worth more than $2.8 trillion over 10 years Instead of complaining about the size of the cuts and not doing anything constructive about it, policymakers ought to commit to using that size in a positive way.
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Donald Marron
What is medicare 'double counting,' and why are budget experts fighting over it?A new study of the Affordable Care Act finds peculiar Medicare budgeting practices, including counting spending cuts and revenue increases twice. It's causing a stir among budget experts.
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Price of debt-ceiling deal: GOP plan goes 'for the jugular,' Dems say
No one in Congress likes the 'sequester' – the more than $900 billion in automatic cuts written into last year's debt deal – but Democrats say that's better than the new GOP plan to avoid it.
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Tax VOX
Let the Bush tax cuts expire? It will cost American families.Letting the Bush/Obama tax cuts (including the payroll tax cut) fall off the cliff would increase taxes on an average American household by $3,000 in 2013 alone, likely wrecking a still-fragile economy.
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Tax VOX
Experts: The 'Buffett rule' is a terrible ideaTax policy experts disagree on many things, including what the definition of 'rich' is. But they agree that imposing a minimum tax of any kind is an admission of policy failure.
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Tax VOX
Will 'Obamacare' add to the deficit?One study predicts health care reform would add billions to the deficit, while another predicts just the opposite. Which is right?
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Study: Obamacare will raise deficit
The study, by a conservative economist, is due to be released Tuesday, and says that the deficit will increase by $340 billion due to the president's signature health care law.
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Tax VOX
Low-income households would shoulder Ryan's tax burdenThe budget Paul Ryan released last week is, essentially, an effort to have low- and middle-class households bear the entire burden of closing the fiscal gap and bear the costs of financing an additional tax cut for high income households.
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Tax VOX
Why Ryan's budget is music to Democrat's earsPaul Ryan may not have intended it, but his 2013 budget is the strongest argument I’ve seen for why any serious fiscal plan must include new revenues.
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