Topic: U.S. Congressional Budget Office

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Could 'fiscal cliff' push US into recession? Five 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?
Five budget realities no politician will talk about (not even Ron Paul)

Ron Paul deserves credit for making the boldest proposals of any candidate in the presidential race. The astonishing reality of the federal government’s budget situation, however, is that even his plans might not be enough to keep Uncle Sam out of bankruptcy. While President Obama offers a $3.8 trillion budget that optimistically might cut the federal deficit to $575 billion by 2018, federal data suggest the United States is already broke. The Federal Reserve estimates that the net value of all private assets, including real estate, stocks, bonds, businesses, cash, etc., is $57 trillion. But the Treasury Department estimates the federal government’s net worth is a negative $61 trillion. Here are five budget realities that no candidate wants to acknowledge:
GOP debate: Who said it? A quiz.

Many things were said at the Sept. 7 GOP presidential debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif. Can you remember who said what?
Federal budget mess: Six ways to fix it

Surprise! It turns out America's problem with runaway budget deficits is solvable, after all. That, at least, is the opinion of some prominent think thanks that have been offering ready-made blueprints.
Obama vs. Paul Ryan: five ways their debt plans differ

The battle over the national debt and fiscal responsibility has been joined. President Obama laid out his own idea of a path to prosperity Wednesday, countering a rival plan set forth last week by Rep. Paul Ryan (R), the chairman of the House Budget Committee. The plans share important similarities: big spending cuts, a form of automatic trigger if Congress fails to act, and reforms to entitlements like Medicare. But the contrasts are clear and significant.
Here are five prominent differences between President Obama's and Congressman Ryan's plans on deficits and debt:

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Tax VOX
How the debt limit delay will affect US fiscal policy

What 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.
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.
Economist Mom
Turning the 'fiscal cliff' into a gentle slope

Economists 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.
Could 'fiscal cliff' push US into recession? Five 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?
Donald Marron
How to fix flawed Medicare budgeting

Budgeting for Medicare's hospital insurance program is flawed. Here are two ways to fix it (and one way not to).
Economist Mom
How to make the Bush tax cuts work

The 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.
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.
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.
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.
Tax VOX
Experts: The 'Buffett rule' is a terrible idea

Tax 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.
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?
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.
Tax VOX
Low-income households would shoulder Ryan's tax burden

The 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.
Tax VOX
Why Ryan's budget is music to Democrat's ears

Paul 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.
Robert Reich
Corporations don't need tax cuts. Why is Obama proposing them?

The Obama administration is proposing to lower corporate taxes from the current 35 percent to 28 percent for most companies and to 25 percent for manufacturers.  But American companies are booking higher profits than ever.
Keen on slashing the national debt? Ron Paul is your man.

Ron Paul ranks as the one candidate among four whose announced policies would leave America with a lower national debt than it would have under a status quo course, according to a new analysis.
Tax VOX
Payroll tax cut full of budget gimmicks

There are two gimmicks happening here. Both are functions of the 10-year budget window the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation use to score legislation.
The New Economy
US budget: fiscal showdown or kick the can?

Congress faces a six-pack of temporary tax cuts that expire soon and could provide the incentive to reshape the tax code and boost the budget.   
America's big wealth gap: Is it good, bad, or irrelevant?

The gap between rich and poor is at its widest since the Roaring '20s. Obama complains that it's unfair, but a growing chorus of economists and sociologists say it's worse than that.
Five budget realities no politician will talk about (not even Ron Paul)

Ron Paul deserves credit for making the boldest proposals of any candidate in the presidential race. The astonishing reality of the federal government’s budget situation, however, is that even his plans might not be enough to keep Uncle Sam out of bankruptcy. While President Obama offers a $3.8 trillion budget that optimistically might cut the federal deficit to $575 billion by 2018, federal data suggest the United States is already broke. The Federal Reserve estimates that the net value of all private assets, including real estate, stocks, bonds, businesses, cash, etc., is $57 trillion. But the Treasury Department estimates the federal government’s net worth is a negative $61 trillion. Here are five budget realities that no candidate wants to acknowledge:
The Daily Reckoning
Debt outpacing growth and the case of Japan

Japan couldn't trick its way out of an economic meltdown, and neither can the US.
Are new unemployment figures a boost for Obama?

Unemployment in the US has fallen to 8.3 percent, the lowest level since February 2009. It looks like good news for President Obama, but Republicans aren't buying it. And there are other political and economic trends that should give the White House pause.
Economist Mom
New economic outlook report is overly optimistic

The Congressional Budget Office’s economic outlook is out, and it doesn't seem all that bad  Except that the CBO baseline is a projection of current-law policies, which assume a lot of very optimistic things about Congress’s proclivity toward fiscally responsible behavior.
The Vote
CBO knows its deficit forecasts are too cheery. So what will really happen?

The CBO is forecasting a $1.1 trillion deficit in 2012, followed by several years of a much lower amount. But CBO officials know that's a fantasy, so it has prepared a more pessimistic outlook.
Mitt Romney moved to the right of Newt Gingrich in Florida

Mitt Romney's key in Florida: Being more conservative than Newt Gingrich on immigration, Medicare, and space exploration.