Congressional Budget Office

The myths that undermine Medicare and Social Security

2013-04-23 11:27:00

The talk in Washington and among opinion leaders around the country's budget issues today centers on "balance" and "responsibility." Many conservatives declare that these terms mean that there should be no new revenue, only spending cuts to programs...

Sequesterville

2013-03-09 04:00:00

The musical "Annie" is enjoying another revival on Broadway. The show opened during the Carter administration, when America was in need of some optimism. "The sun'll come out tomorrow," sang Annie, and with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, for a...

Letter: Editorial on sequestration contained misleading statements

2013-03-13 00:00:00

The editorial in the Catonsville Times, published March 6, "Sequestration — a political game with real pain") contains these misleading statements: • "Federal government workers and contractors wait nervously to see what these automatic...

Recycling old and failed ideas

2013-02-16 04:00:00

President Barack Obama's approach to so-called "climate change" appears to include recycling old ideas. In his State of the Union address, the president recycled the idea of spending more on education, though we are still getting unsatisfactory...

More of the same

2013-01-05 04:00:00

Everything that everyone loathes about Washington was present in the "fiscal cliff" bill just passed by Congress. It is 153 pages long; most members probably hadn't read all of it before voting on it; it was delivered in the middle of the night; it was...

On Obamacare, sequester and taxes: predictions revisited

2013-02-17 05:00:00

Politicians (including former politicians) like to be right more than most people. You see, in politics, public officials live or die by their (very) public opinions concerning the issues of the day. It is with this somber thought in mind that I reissue...

The sequester stand-off

2013-02-06 10:31:00

Is this really the best anyone in Washington can do to avert sequestration? President Barack Obama's call for delaying the automatic spending cuts past the March 1 deadline would seem reasonable enough, except he hasn't really offered up a specific plan...

The deficit control policy Democrats and Republicans can love

2013-01-28 13:42:13

When it comes to fixing America's ballooning debt problem, there is one policy option that both Democrats and Republicans should be rushing to embrace. It is the proposal to replace the current Consumer Price Index (CPI) with a more accurate measure of...

Military spending isn't the problem

2013-01-25 04:30:00

Letter writer Steve Buff writes that military spending is bankrupting the country ("Military spending is bankrupting the country," Jan. 20). But according to the Congressional Budget Office, military spending doesn't appear to be the problem. The CBO...

Injecting Obamacare into economy will hurt -- a lot

2012-12-30 05:00:00

It's difficult to catalogue all the negative impacts of Obamacare in one place. Nevertheless, my readers deserve to know a few of the uglier details as the new year rings in one of the most expensive, convoluted policy experiments in American history....

Winning ugly -- Obama and the fiscal cliff

2013-01-07 04:00:00

By all accounts, President Barack Obama won the fiscal cliff showdown. Why anyone would take much pride in this kind of "win" is beyond me. It's a bit like being the least filthy toddler in the mud pit. One of the main reasons Mr. Obama won, according...

Congress readies for next fight over federal pay

2013-01-21 06:23:00

Congressional Republicans are stepping up their rhetoric on federal employee pay, positioning the issue as a central bargaining chip in negotiations next month over raising the debt ceiling and keeping the government open. House GOP leaders will hold...

Congress is currently embattled in negotiations on the "fiscal cliff," which refers to the effect of a number of laws that, if unchanged, could result in tax increases, spending cuts and a reduction in the budget deficit beginning in 2013.

2012-12-04 04:39:52