Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
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Blog | July 2021

Welcome to our blog – The Bottom Line, where you’ll find up-to-date commentary and analysis on the most important news in the fiscal world. Below is a list of our blog posts.
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Jul 30, 2021 | Other Spending

Appropriations Watch: FY 2021

Updated 7/30/2021: The House passed an emergency supplemental appropriations measure of $1.9 billion, intended to to address security concerns at the...
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Jul 30, 2021 | Budget Process

Fiscal State of the Nation Introduced in the Senate and House

Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Angus King (I-ME), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Mike Braun (R-IN), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Jacky Rosen...
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Policymakers Shouldn't Attach More Borrowing to a Debt Ceiling Increase

The debt ceiling, or the statutory limit on the total amount of debt the federal government can accrue, is set to come back on August 1 after...
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Jul 29, 2021 | Other Spending

What's in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act?

UPDATE 8/5: We have published a new summary of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act based on a recently published score from the...
Jul 28, 2021 | Budgets & Projections

Trust Fund Solutions Would Be Pro-Growth

In our recent paper “The Case for Trust Fund Solutions,” we showed that making the Social Security, Medicare, and highway trust funds solvent would...
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Jul 26, 2021 | Health Care

Two Ways to Reduce Prescription Drug Costs

High and rising prescription drug costs are contributing to the budgetary pressure faced by the federal government. Also, a significant...
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Jul 22, 2021 | Health Care

Can Medicare Advantage Reforms Save the Trust Fund?

  The Medicare Part A Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund is only six years from insolvency according to the Congressional Budget Office...
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Jul 22, 2021 | Budget Process

Kent Conrad: Congress should reinstate the 'Conrad Rule' to prevent abuse of budget reconciliation

Kent Conrad is a former senator from North Dakota, a former Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and a member of the Committee for a Responsible...
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True Cost of Budget Plan Could Exceed $5 Trillion

The Senate may soon move forward on reconciliation instructions to allow for the enactment of $3.5 trillion in new spending and tax breaks (on top of...
Jul 8, 2021

Maya MacGuineas on Fox Business Discussing the Growing National Debt

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget President Maya MacGuineas joined “Mornings with Maria" on Fox Business to discuss the status of COVID...

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