by jpitney | May 14, 2022 | Budget, Debt
From CBO: The federal budget deficit was $360 billion in the first seven months of fiscal year 2022 (that is, from October 2021 through April 2022), the Congressional Budget Office estimates. That amount is about one-fifth of the $1.9 trillion shortfall recorded...
by jpitney | Mar 4, 2022 | Budget, Congress
Lee Hamilton: Back in 2019, the House created the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, with an equal number of members of both parties. In the time since then, it’s made recommendations on everything from making Congress more accessible to people with...
by jpitney | Dec 28, 2021 | Budget, Congress, Economic Policy, House of Representatives
Nan Swift at R street Institute: The House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress (SCOMC) closed out the first session of the 117th Congress strong, advancing a second set of congressional reform recommendations. This tranche of recommendations is aimed at...
by jpitney | Sep 30, 2021 | Budget, Constitution, Dreier
It is very rare for a member of Congress to announce an explicit change of mind. In 2011, Rep. David Dreier did so on the proposed balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Peter Kasperowicz wrote at The Hill: House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier...
by jpitney | Sep 24, 2021 | Bipartisanship, Budget, Congress
Lara Brown at The Hill: Backlash is real. Democrats should not fool themselves into believing that passing a massive $3.5 trillion plan that provides Americans with government benefits from “cradle to grave” will be seen by the public as a good thing. Americans are...
by jpitney | Sep 1, 2021 | Budget, Debt, Social Security
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget sums up the annual report of Social Security trustees: The Social Security program is only 13 years from insolvency, and action must be taken promptly to prevent an across-the-board benefit cut for many current and future...
