by jpitney | Sep 14, 2021 | Bipartisanship, Civility, Congress, Debt
Tara D.Sonenshine writes at The Hill: In a recent letter to congressional leaders, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that without raising the debt ceiling, “the most likely outcome is that cash and extraordinary measures will be exhausted during the month of...
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...
by jpitney | Aug 2, 2021 | Debt, Economic Policy
From the Congressional Budget Office: CBO projects a federal budget deficit of $3.0 trillion in 2021 as the economic disruption caused by the 2020–2021 coronavirus pandemic and the legislation enacted in response continue to boost the deficit (which was large by...
by jpitney | Jun 22, 2021 | Bipartisanship, Budget, Debt
Many posts have discussed the deficit and the debt. Policymakers and the general public have tended to ignore these problems in recent years, In 1994, President Clinton named Bob Kerrey and John Danforth to lead a bipartisan commission on entitlements and tax...
by jpitney | Jun 5, 2021 | Congress, Debt, House of Representatives
Still, the disconnect between what Boehner himself had termed fiscal “Armageddon” and the bullheadedness of the tea partiers unnerved members like Jo Ann Emerson. She sidled up to one of the freshman one day and said, “I need you to explain why you don’t...
by jpitney | Mar 14, 2021 | Debt, Economic Policy
From the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: Now that the American Rescue Plan Act has been signed into law, the federal deficit is on course to exceed $3 trillion this year, with debt reaching a new record as a share of the economy. In February,...
